Phoenix Rocks Out Folsom Prison Just Like Johnny Cash

We all know that the easiest way to get an Oscar is to wait until a singer dies and then do an impression of him in a film - it worked for Jamie Foxx and it looks like it’ll work for Joaquin Phoenix.

And to boost the chances of winning a gazillion Oscars credibility of Phoenix’s new Johnny Cash film Walk The Line, Joaquin Phoenix has traced Cash’s steps to Folsom Prison - scene of one of the most famous live albums in history - to perform for the inmates there.

Since Jamie Foxx did a passable impression of Ray Charles and won an
Oscar for it last year, it’s been long suggested that Joaquin Phoenix (DVDs)
might be able to reap the same rewards for copying Johnny Cash in Walk
The Line - even if the daughter of Johnny Cash did hate the film so much she stormed out of a screening five times.
(Incidentally, the second that Noddy Holder dies, we’re gonna start
pitching our Slade biopic script called Get Down And Get With It. That
Oscar is ours, dammit! Ours!)

Anyway, to help promote the film, Joaquin Phoenix has been touring
Folsom Prison with Shooter Jennings - who plays his father Waylon in Walk The Line
- in an event arranged by Bible study group Prison Fellowship. The
visit included a tour, a screening of Walk The Line and a recreation of
Cash’s famous 1968 At Folsom Prison performance.

Around 50 inmates watched as Joaquin and Shooter performed several
acoustic Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings songs, including Folsom Prison
Blues. However, Joaquin - by his own admission - was just a little bit
crap. He told the inmates:

"I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve messed up like 40 times. I’m all over the place."

Joaquin Phoenix finds out if his Johnny Cash impression is worthy of an Oscar when the nominations are revealed on January 31st.

Read more:

Phoenix retraces Cash’s footsteps at Folsom - Newsday

[story by Stuart Heritage]