From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Later, when Meryl Streep was performing "Florence Foster Jenkins", she said that singing accurately and well was not difficult, but singing out of tune was the real challenge.

At least, that's the case for actors.

And Anson now realizes that he needs to sing neither well nor badly, without being out of tune or off-key, but also without injecting energy; everything needs to be restrained, showing a bland and tasteless performance, which is the real difficulty.

Moreover, that's not all.

Secondly, he needs to give Johnny Cash's singing a soul, a soul that belongs to Johnny but doesn't quite belong to Johnny, instead originating from his understanding and experience of Johnny's life.

Harder than ascending to heaven.

In his previous life, when Joaquin Phoenix starred in "Walk the Line", his performance was undoubtedly excellent, even showing glimpses of the later "Joker".

However, Joaquin's performance relied on "crutches", such as alcohol, drugs, depravity, and madness, exploring the dark side and releasing emotions outwardly, which seemed like an overexertion in the face of Reese Witherspoon's effortless performance; moreover, more importantly, his singing lacked polish, and not just a little.

The so-called polish here does not refer to pitch or rhythm, but to a kind of expressiveness.

It's indescribable, invisible, and intangible, but it truly exists; but specifically, how to adjust and improve it, there is no path to find.

Relying entirely on self-exploration.

In the movie, the song Joaquin sang when auditioning at Sun Records was not only unstable in pitch, but also a complete mess in terms of emotional expression.

In the a cappella performance without accompaniment, Joaquin, as a non-professional singer, revealed his shortcomings and weaknesses; even temporarily setting aside technical skills, the performance also failed to present the layers and weight of emotions through singing; if Johnny Cash sang like that in the real world, it would be 100% impossible for him to get a record contract—

Mediocre, even terrible.

Even in other singing scenes, where Joaquin went all out himself, there was still a clear gap between his singing and the real Johnny Cash.

This time, the two Jameses chose Anson to play Johnny Cash, quietly changing the course of history, precisely because of Anson's musical talent.

In this aspect, Anson has advantages that Joaquin doesn't have, and it should also be the opportunity for Anson to give the Johnny Cash biopic a brand new soul; Anson wouldn't say he's offering a more outstanding or excellent performance than Joaquin, but he looks forward to interpreting his own different style.

Anson needs to break free from the shackles of his past life's memories and explore on his own.

In fact, Anson has always been clear-headed; he knows that "Walk the Line", strictly speaking, is his first serious acting test.

In the role of Johnny Cash, he first carries the life and emotions of a real person, and secondly, he carries the emotional energy of an artistic creation role; its complexity is far beyond imagination, which poses a severe test for Anson's performance.

Moreover, Joaquin won an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for this work in his previous life; if he said he felt no pressure at all, that would definitely be a lie.

Considering Anson's awkward relationship with the Academy and the lingering "pretty boy" label, the possibility of the Academy continuing to ignore Anson and refusing to give "Walk the Line" a nomination is increasing, which means that Anson needs to work harder and be more focused; even if it's not for the Academy nomination, he should go all out for his own breakthrough and progress.

At least, Anson hopes to offer a role that he won't regret or be ashamed of.

It is precisely because of this that Anson has been getting into character and experiencing the life of an unknown singer for the past few months.

There are many reasons for missing the Oscar ceremony, and a small part of it is because Anson doesn't want to interrupt the performance's trajectory; briefly leaving the environment created by the crew during the filming process to enter the world of fame and fortune might cause his performance state to be off when he returns to the crew.

Anson is trying to follow the vision and plan of the two Jameses, and he is also trying to enter the world of Johnny Cash through what he is good at—

Starting from music, touching and feeling Johnny Cash's soul through notes, lyrics, and performance.

It is also because of this that Anson did not hesitate to disrupt the crew's filming schedule, advancing the scene of Johnny Cash's audition at Sun Records by a full two weeks.

From the recording studio to the recording studio, from the August 31st band to the Tennessee Three, including the early collaboration between Larry and Dan John, everything is paving the way for the role, seamlessly connecting, hoping that through the medium of music, Anson can enter the world of Johnny Cash in his own way.

Obviously, this is a challenge, but also a brand new attempt.

No, of course not, because this is "Johnny Cash the Musician", and the final image depicted is Johnny as perceived through music.

He is unreal and incomplete.

But just like the discussions Anson and Edgar had around the "Walk the Line" project, from the beginning of the project, this script and this project had a strong Johnny Cash and June Carter flavor; what they longed to present was the image they wanted the public to see, not 100% true.

The two Jameses are no exception; even if the script presents Johnny Cash's wounds and struggles, it is still the part of the truth they are willing to show.

Through in-depth conversations with the two Jameses, Anson at least agrees with one point:

What they show is the truth of Johnny Cash as a musician as seen by the public, and also the truth that Johnny Cash bravely showed through music.

Indeed, this kind of truth is incomplete and has artistic processing, but at least they can be rooted in music, showing how musicians transform life experiences into inspiration and finally complete creation; when the fragments of the soul can be felt in the melody and lyrics, this movie is successful.

Based on this, in Anson's view, Joaquin's performance... was a failure.

On the actor level, in capturing emotions and wounds, Joaquin undoubtedly completed his job, and it was an excellent job; but on the musician level, Joaquin's presentation and interpretation of Johnny Cash's music was a failure, starting from the first scene of the Sun Records audition.

If Anson doesn't want to repeat the same mistakes, if Anson wants to break free from the memories of his previous life and perform his own performance, if Anson wants to enter the world of Johnny Cash, then the first scene of the Sun Records audition is particularly important.