Danny Ramirez is speaking up about the abrupt and “disappointing” exit of Joaquin Phoenix from Todd Haynes’ planned queer romance movie.
It was announced in September of 2023 that Haynes (the director behind Carol and May December) was making a “sexually explicit movie” about two men in love. Along with Ramirez, Phoenix had also been cast as one of the main leads in the untitled project. However, the Joker: Folie à Deux actor reportedly walked off the set five days before the scheduled filming in Guadalajara.
The NC-17-rated feature has now been shelved after Phoenix’s exit, with no plans to recast the role set for the actor.
What did Danny Ramirez say about Joaquin Phoenix’s exit?
While at the Academy Museum Gala Saturday night in Los Angeles, the actor — known for his roles in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Look Both Ways, No Exit, and Top Gun: Maverick — told Variety that Phoenix’s exit from the film was “definitely disappointing.”
“If anything, it just gave me more inspiration to keep driving, keep pushing, and knowing that I’m on the right path and approaching the work the right way. So that’s what I’m excited about,” said Ramirez.
He continued, “It’s definitely a very complicated situation. The audition process was extensive, and so what I walked away with that was just the artistic validation of throwing down opposite of [Phoenix] in this chemistry read… There was a moment that I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve arrived as a performer.’”
The project, set in the 1930s, was supposed to chronicle the romantic relationship between two men who both left Los Angeles for Mexico. It was reportedly Phoenix’s idea and he developed the screenplay along with Haynes and Jon Raymond.
There is still no news about the project ever going to fruition without Phoenix, and Ramirez told Variety that “the most recent update is ‘hopefully.’”