Joaquin Phoenix		Jennifer Connelly		Mira Sorvino & Christopher Backus

Photos: Joy E. Scheller/LFI

New York, October 4, 2007 – After playing a college professor in Reservation Road, does Joaquin Phoenix regret never having attended college?  “Uh, no”, he told us at the premiere.  “I mean, I’m doing all right”, he said with a slight laugh.  Phoenix talked about his young co-star Elle Fanning, and she sounds as precocious as her older sister, Dakota.  “She’s incredibly bright and talented”, he said.  “I think that the gift she has is utter empathy, and ability to just react in a situation.  Depending on what was happening in a scene, her performance adjusted; it was incredible to watch.  I mean, you’re learning from a 7-year-old.”

Jennifer Connelly’s character loses her child in a car accident, and she said that although she tries not to take her work home with her, this one did affect her as a real-life mom.  “So much of who I am is about being a mom and about my children and my love for my children.  I mean, it so much defines me as a person, I think it’s impossible to escape entirely”, she said.  “So I had physical symptoms while working on the movie like I had never experienced.  Like, I’m a champion sleeper, and I had a hard time sleeping.  And, you know, my jaw was locking up and I was having nightmares.  So it really affected me, even though I tried my hardest not to let it.”