While Ari Aster's new film Beau Is Afraid has yet to be released into theaters, the director is already thinking about what's next, revealing in an interview with The New York Times that his next project will "almost certainly" be a western. While the genre may be an unexpected shift from Aster's usual horror outings, the director may be joined by a familiar face as he teased the star of his upcoming project Beau Is Afraid, Joaquin Phoenix, may return to star in the proposed western film.
While Aster may be about to release only his third feature-length film, the director has already poised himself as somewhat of a horror icon, and has certainly established himself a creative force through his chillingly surreal films: 2018's Hereditary and 2019's Midsommar. It comes as a little surprise then that the auteur's next project would take an unexpected direction, should the film in fact take form as a western.
No matter what genre Aster explores next, the filmmaker is keen to work again with Phoenix, with whom he says he built "a real courtship" during months of meetings between the two leading up to the production of Beau. Aster praised the actor and his creative sensibilities, calling him "ruthlessly investigative... if something feels false or not right, he won’t be able to do it. It’s not even about him refusing to do something — his body will stop him”, the claim checking out with a playful comment from Phoenix's Beau co-star Nathan Lane that the actor is "very intense." Aster went on to describe his time working with Phoenix as "the best experience of my life," going on to speak of how the actors he works with in the future will have big shoes to fill: "it also taught me how I want to work in the future — the seriousness with which I expect an actor to approach any given part.”
Joaquin Phoenix Has Nothing But Praise for the Director
Speaking of his experience with the director, Phoenix revealed “I knew that I could never, ever just ‘act’ in front of Ari — it’s something that I find repulsive and difficult to do. You couldn’t do that with Ari. He would sense it immediately. It’s nice to know that you are working with somebody like that.” While the film was a challenging experience for the actor, delving into heavy topics such as familial trauma, he insists "I enjoy things that are, at times, difficult to achieve." Though he went on to assert that the duo found time to laugh despite the film's hefty subject matter, saying "we certainly laughed a great deal. What do they call it? Gallows humor. The characters are going through such trauma, you haven’t a choice but to find something funny about it.”
The pair's upcoming film Beau Is Afraid is set to be released in theaters April 21.