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? (title missing) By Lauren Rubin
New York Daily News, ?? March 2002
The first time actress Summer Phoenix auditioned for Arnaud Desplechin's film "Esther Kahn," the writer/director abruptly left the room after a few minutes.
"Thank you," the casting directors told her. Phoenix walked away in tears. Esther was the role she had been waiting for. This couldn't be her last chance. So she turned and sped back upstairs into the auditioning room and cried, "I want this movie so badly."
That's when the casting directors explained Desplechin's hasty exit: In his office hung a picture of what he dreamed Esther would look like. When Phoenix walked in, he saw Esther in the flesh. But not until three auditions and many nerve-wracking months later was Phoenix offered the role. On the same day her brother Joaquin learned he'd won the role of Commodus in "Gladiator," and when she picked up the phone, she expected him to be on the line. Instead she heard Desplechin asking in his thick French accent: "Do you want to be my Esther Kahn?"
The first English-language film by Desplechin, "Esther Kahn" is based on an Arthur Symons short story about a young woman living with her Jewish immigrant family in London's East End at the end of the 19th century. Esther, the youngest of the clan, is numb and detached until she discovers the theater and carves her identity as an actress. Along the way, she is tutored by the actor Nathan Quellen (Ian Holm) and falls under the spell of a theater critic (Fabrice Desplechin, the director's brother), who teaches her heartbreak.
It was Esther's journey to womanhood that resonated with Phoenix. Now 24, she was 20 - Esther's age at the end of the story - when she made the film.
"There were so many moments when I was living as Esther that bled into my life and things in my life that bled into Esther's," she says. "I was at a place where I was silently waiting for my chance. Somebody just needed to give me [it], and Arnaud did that."
The role required Phoenix to play an actor learning the craft, but Desplechin's emphasis on Esther's search for self, rather than on her acting, helped Phoenix simplify that process. "I went at it as a young girl finding her footing in the world and trying to realize her dreams," she says.
"Esther is using the stage to try and make [life] concrete," adds Desplechin. "She doesn't want to be a great artist, she's just struggling for a life. That purpose was more interesting than the theater itself."
To understand the slum life of Jewish immigrants in late Victorian London, Phoenix fell back on her own family's New York City roots and her Russian-Hungarian-Jewish background on her mother's side. The East End "was very similar to the lower East Side in the late 19th century," she says. "It was a Jewish community of tailors and people of the cloth."
Phoenix was 15 when she moved to New York, and for the past two years she's been living in Manhattan with her boyfriend, actor Casey Affleck - Joaquin's best friend.
Born in 1978, Phoenix grew up in Los Angeles and Florida, the youngest of five children in a tightly knit family. They moved around the country to "wherever anybody was working." In 1993, her eldest brother River, considered one of the most gifted film actors of his generation, died of a drug overdose in L.A. at age 23. Acting in the shadow of River's tragic death is something Joaquin has had to deal with in the press and something Summer anticipates.
"I know I'm going to be asked about that, and I feel I don't owe anybody anything," she says. "Anybody can ask me anything they want, and either I'm going to answer if I feel comfortable, or I'm not."
The influence of Phoenix's close relationships with her siblings is reflected in the roles she has chosen. Unlike many young actors starting out, she has opted for such unconventional projects as "Esther Kahn," "The Laramie Project," about the aftermath of Matthew Shepard's murder, and "The Believer," for which her portrayal of a Jewish neo-Nazi's girlfriend earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
"Riv really worked on things that spoke to him, and so does Joaq," she says. "And that's the only way I can do what I do."
She doesn't expect her life or career to take a smooth path, she adds.
"We convince ourselves that life is going to plateau. Nothing is the even flow, but who would want it to be? If it was spring all the time, we would be like, 'So what?' about the flowers. That's been my process: trying to appreciate the wintertime that can bring life's blossoms."
"Esther Kahn" opens March 1.
Chill, sister By Emily Sheffield
Tatler, April 2002
Coming from a bunch of hippies, Summer Phoenix is not fazed by fame, says Emily Sheffield
Summer Phoenix stands patiently, left breast accidentally exposed to the camera and an expression of composed resignation freezing her delicate features, while four assistants flutter frantically around her, primping, fussing and pulling. Now the publicity agent and photographer move in, like moths to the light, and the svelte 23-year-old is finally obscured from view.
Disguising young stars with a glossy veneer of perfection is an accepted process in Hollywood – one which her Oscar-nominated brothers, the late River and 27-year-old Joaquin, have already endured. In River's case, it was perhaps disastrous : the young actor had reached icon-like status by the time he died in 1993 from a drug overdose.
Happily, the youngest of the famous Phoenix five is untouched by her sudden climb in Hollywood ranks (she is currently promoting five film releases in the States). When we meet, she is upbeat and relaxed, shunning the fussy, expensive lunch menu at LA's grand Château Marmont Hotel for a $4 takeaway salad, which she whips out from a plastic bag.
'Oh my God. yesterday was so ridiculous,' she drawls, rolling her yellow-flecked chestnut eyes and pulling a black corduroy jacket around her shoulders. 'It has never been like that before. Six people at one time. I was like, "What are you all doing here?"' The fun part, she continues, was trying on all the designer clothes, including the red Burberry cords she got to keep. 'Normally, I shop for second-hand clothes. My Mom lives in Florida and there's a lot of people who die there,' she says, straight-faced. 'They give all their clothes to the Salvation Army, so you can pick up vintage Pucci or Yves Saint Laurent for a quarter of their worth.'
Like Joaquin before her, Summer has opted for gritty, complex roles, avoiding the teen movie genre that has swept America: a neo-fascist in The Believer (screened in Britain last year), then a heroin addict in MTV's Wasted. 'Joaquin's advice has always been, "Don't sell yourself short; do something because you believe in it and make sure you have an emotional connection to it," she repeats, compensating for the piety of the Phoenix family vegan diet by lighting up an (albeit organic) American Spirit cigarette.
Emotional and anguished can get repetitive, and Dinner Rush, her latest film to reach British shores, offered Summer the chance to play someone closer to her own character. The film, directed by Bob Giraldi, is set in a Mafia owned Manhattan restaurant. Summer plays Marti, a young waitress and struggling artist. 'She was just an ordinary girl with no weird hang-ups, and I loved that.'
Despite her packed résumé, Summer denies she is ambitious. 'No. I wish I was. I'm certainly not lazy at work but I'm also not a real mover and shaker. It takes me a week to write a To Do list,' she chortles throatily. 'You know, I love sleeping, eating, laying around watching movies. I'm so disorganised,' she adds. 'My friends call me the bag lady.'
Most of the lounging and eating takes place in New York, where she lives with her boyfriend of two years, 26-year-old Casey Affleck (younger brother of Ben Affleck and Joaquin's best friend). Is this her first serious relationship? 'No, it's not my first but the first that will be my last,' she smiles coyly. So he's the one? 'Oh yes, absolutely,' she groans. 'But I guess I'm old-fashioned in that I'm not going to ask him to marry me.'
Summer sweetly attributes her success to her parents, John Bottom and Arlyn Dunetz (they changed their name to Phoenix in a hippie ceremony in 1979). 'They really instilled in us that we were unique, original and beautiful, and that nothing was beyond us,' she recalls.
Money was tight during her parents' early married years. After touring South and Central America as missionaries for the religious sect Children of God, they returned to California. Arlyn worked as a secretary for a casting director at NBC in LA, while John was 'Mr Mom' and tutored the children at home. 'We used to sing on the streets for cash in Beverly Hills,' says Summer. 'We were like the von Trapp family. We would do little choreographed dances in banana-yellow outfits.'
This being Hollywood, the cute Phoenix Family act soon attracted an agent. Summer began working in television at the age of three. In 1986, River gained huge critical acclaim for his performance in Rob Reiner's award-winning Stand By Me. With success came financial security, and the family settled in Florida.
'Money bought such a freedom, it was a really beautiful thing,' she says poetically. 'We could finally buy a house we fitted into.' Although John and Arlyn separated in 1990, the close-knit family still unites several times a year. 'We just eat, listen to music, reminisce. I'm lucky as I adore both my step-parents,' she continues happily. Recently, I held my dad's hand in one and my step-dad's in the other, and I was like, "Yeah, this is really cool."'
Not all the siblings remained in film. Liberty quit acting at 20 to be a mother, and Rain, the eldest, is about to release her first LP and contributed a song to the Wasted soundtrack. 'She is a phenomenal artist,' Summer says 'with just the most beautiful voice.'
Summer was the only sister to accompany Joaquin to last year's Academy Awards, where he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Ridley Scott's Gladiator 'It was a spot-on performance, wasn't it'?' she grins. Has his fame had a derogatory effect on their family life? 'Yeah, but we've been dealing with fame all our lives,' she shrugs, eyes narrowing. 'I do get protective of Joaquin. I hate it when people stare.'
Summer is now roughly the same age as River was when he suffered his high-profile heroin-induced heart failure outside the Viper Room in LA. She had just returned to California after spending three years with her father in Costa Rica. You can only guess at the affect his death had on her; despite chatting openly about the rest of her siblings and familial habits during the interview she doesn't once mention River. All Summer has said in the past is that 'no dream was ever too big' for her beloved brother. Big dreams are clearly a family trait. She'd like her next film to be more mainstream, an action thriller. 'Basically, I want to kick ass.'
Summer kisses me goodbye and says finally: 'I know I can do any thing, given the chance. Anybody can do anything given the chance.' And with a big smile, she turns and bounds out into the street.
MY NAME IS - SUMMER PHOENIX By Alexia Loundras
Time Out London, March 27- April 3 2002
It's not easy being the youngest of five, in the shadow of your siblings, and it's even harder when your older brothers are River and Joaquin Phoenix. After her roles in Henry Bean's 'The Believer' and as aspiring artist/waitress Marti in Bob Giraldi's slick, Altman-esque 'Dinner Rush' (out this week), 23-year-old Summer Phoenix is doing some shining of her own.
What was it like making 'Dinner Rush'?
It was a great fun. It was so local. It's set in a restaurant that I've been eating at for years. I know all the maitres d's and the cooks, and they all ended up in the film too.
Did you get any waitressing training for your part?
I learned to carry plates up my arms. And that's not something you can just be told how to do - you have to practise. It's a balancing act. But I watched myself in the film tryingto open a bottle of wine and I thought: There's no way I've been working in this restaurant for very long!
Whom would you most like to work with?
Wes Anderson ['The Royal Tenebaums']. His characters are so incredibly unbelievable yet he makes you feel like you know them.
Is there anything you still haven't done that you'd like to do?
I compose classical piano and I would love to play a concert of my work.
What do you like to do for fun?
I've got this electric scooter that my brother got me for my birthday, and I'm addicted to it. He's got one too. It's the most fun thing in the entire world. We go out and ride all over the city. I can't pop benches yet, but he's an old skater, so he's like 'Hey, check this one out' – jerk!
What's the most embarrassing thing you own?
Probably my scooter. No, definitely my scooter.
Sister act, too By Kevin Maher
The Face, April 2002
You know about River and Joaquin already. 'If you ask me about my family...' warns Summer Phoenix
Summer Phoenix has played a heroin addict, a doomed 18th-century actress, and a quasi-fascist sado-masochist. The 23-year-old's recent roles, then, suggest an empathy with life's darker side. The real Summer Phoenix, dressed in black sweater and red cords, grins. 'If you write that, I'm gonna kill you! I'm not dark! I can do jovial. Dinner Rush is light, right?' The film in question is her latest screen appearance, in which she plays a sardonic waitress-cum-tortured artist alongside Sandra Bernhard. Summer Phoenix is, of course, one of those Phoenixes. 'I go in interviews like, “If you're going to ask me about my family, I'm going to answer in a way I deem fit” – I don't owe anybody anything'.
After an early kiddie career (Murder sur wote, age six), Phoenix spent her mid-teens in Costa Rica, then returned for several minor roles (The Faculty), ad campaigns and pop promo appearances (The Catherine Wheel and Spacehog). 'I've been plugging away for years, but the misconception is “Ooooh, overnight success!”' Success means an eerily masochistic turn in The Believer, the title role in period tragedy Esther Kahn, Samantha the post Texan junkie in MTV movie Wasted, and her own glam private life – co-habitant and Ocean's Eleven star Casey Affleck is 'perfect, so amazing, just fucking wonderful!'.
So, life doesn't sound too dark, then? 'Exactly! I have experiences that are fun and light and happy, so as an actor I think I can do that.' Summer Phoenix pauses, then qualifies, 'I know I can do that'.
Dinner Rush opens on March 29
About a goy By Tim Lewis
Esquire (UK), March 2004, Volume 14 # 3
Summer Phoenix swaps Manhattan for North London as the Jewish answer to Bridget Jones
It is the reality of the British Film Industry that to gain funding for an independent production about the romantic tribulations of a North London Jewish girl the film-makers had to cast a bolshy New Yorker whose parents were missionaries for a cult called the Children of God.
"I know they didn't even consider someone English to play Suzie Gold because they knew that the look was not going to exist here," says 25-year-old Summer Phoenix. "I don't know what they are talking about, I see them everywhere. But that's what they said to me."
Despite her protests, it doesn't take long to realise that Phoenix is a unique package. She is best known as an actress drawn to gritty and controversial roles, like Carla Moebius, the quasi-fascist sadomasochist in the Believer, but her compositions on classical piano are assured enough to have been included on the soundtracks to her films. She co-owns one of the chicest shops in Manhattan, a seductive boutique called Some Odd Rubies that sells reworked and customised vintage clothes. For two years, she helped run her father's vegan restaurant in Costa Rica, she is an impassioned campaigner for animal rights, her boyfriend is Casey Affleck, "fucking wonderful" star of Ocean's Eleven and Gerry. She is also the youngest member of an infamously polymathic family, but her own achievements could soon overcome even that impossible burden.
Are there any other talents we should know about? "I am really, really aggressive and I can jump really high," she says with a seductive smile. "I could definitely kick you in the face". Thanks. "I desperately want to be in action movies because you don't actually have to act," she continues. "It would be nice just to shout, 'Hold on!', 'I'm going!', 'Over here!', 'Let's go!' and run along and kick the shit out of people and jump high and do karate. I don't want to make a career out of it, but come on - it would be cool to do one at least."
Suzie Gold already represents a significant departure for Phoenix. It's a breezy romantic comedy about a Jewish girl who has to choose between her gayvedik childhood crush Anthony (and excellent Iddo Goldberg) and the unsuitable goyim Darren (Leo Gregory). "I really related to the script", says Phoenix. "And more than anything, I was getting typecasted as 'the little dark girl' and I just wanted to be on a set where there was lots of laughter and I didn't have to cry a lot.' Does it add to the pressure that her name is expected to carry the film? "Yeah, it's my bomb. Thanks for bringing that up."
Enjoy Suzie Gold, as it will be your last glimpse of Summer Phoenix for a while. She's taking a break from acting to work in her shop and write music. "They don't even know who I am in Hollywood now," she says, obviously pleased. "That's cool, though - I will make a comeback one day. Make a big comeback." With that, her mouth opens out into the broadest smile of the day.
'Suzie Gold' is out on 5 March. Some Odd Rubies, 151 Ludlow Street, New York (00 1 212 353 1736)
Summer Phoenix By Ceri Thomas
Total Film, April 2004, #87
Time to talk shopping, bums, and Suzie Gold with the youngest member of the Phoenix clan...
"No! That's not my real ass!" laughs Summer Phoenix when Total Film asks about the one fleeting moment of nudity in UK comedy Suzie Gold. "Do you really think my ass looks that bad? Really? Definitely not!"
We can't really blame her for bringing in a "stunt ass". The scene in question sees Jewish girl Suzie having a nightmare seeing her standing naked on a windswept chunk of English coastline. On a very cold day...
"It was freezing. I felt dreadful for the girl, I really did." Not so dreadful that she offered to do it herself, though? "Okay, so I'm a horrible, horrible person," she grins.
For the 25-year-old actress, the hardest part of making Richard Cantor's film was mastering Suzie's north London accent. "After working, I'd study all day. The producer and her assistant came from north London, so they helped to coach me and I stole a lot of mannerisms from them. I made them take me shopping a lot."
Unlike older brother Joaquin (who seems to be constantly working), Summer seems to favour more downtime. "I'm actually taking a break now, I don't start work again until the autumn with a film about '70s radicals called Disobedience. I'm also playing piano in my sister's band, Paper Cranes. We've been playing a lot of gigs around New York and now she's finishing an album.
"I also own a store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan [called Some Odd Rubies, after Phoenix and co-owners Odessa and Ruby], so I spend a lot of time there. We make all the clothes and I work behind the counter, so I'm actually pretty busy when I'm taking time off."
Suppose she was forced to choose between the films, the music or the shop? "You bastard!" she hisses in a note-perfect Hampstead accent, before snapping back to the gentle US drawl : "Ummm, well... Okay, between the three: films. I could always play music whether I was doing it professionally or not. I'd have to ditch the shop. Don't tell my partners that, though..."
Suzie Gold is released on 5 March and reviewed on page 36