Musical ignorance came in handy for Joaquin Phoenix

TORONTO - Knowing very little about country music, Johnny Cash or even how to sing probably helped actor Joaquin Phoenix turn in an Oscar-worthy performance as the Man in Black.

The actor, 30, who was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor for "Gladiator," has shone in supporting roles.

In "Walk The Line," he takes on a lead role and puts in a high-caliber performance as country music legend Johnny Cash in the early years. The film makes its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"I didn't know much about him and I wasn't a big country music fan. I listened to the Beatles and David Bowie so I didn't know a lot about him," Phoenix said in a Reuters interview on Tuesday.

"What was nice for me was not knowing anything about music and not being a singer or player and kind of discovering what that was like, instead of having a set way of doing things.

"I'm not even like a singer in the shower, kind of thing," he said. "But if I did sing, I would always try and sing high."

Despite that, Phoenix managed to capture Cash's deep voice and mannerisms, right down to the rusty laugh, as well as belting out Cash classics like "Ring of Fire" and "I Walk the Line."

He credits a dialect coach, who helped him discover other muscles in his throat, for being able to deepen his voice to the famous Cash growl.

The film, which is being tagged as this year's "Ray," also features Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, an eye-opening performance that is a far cry from her more familiar turns as the perky, plucky blonde.

The film chronicles Cash from his youth as the son of an Arkansas sharecropper, to touring with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and his descent into drug addition. It was written and directed by James Mangold, who also directed "Identity" and "Girl, Interrupted."

Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman -- who transforms himself into writer Truman Capote in the film "Capote" -- are drawing considerable buzz as two early contenders for Academy Award nominations.

Phoenix met Cash six months before he was approached for the role and said watching the music icon and his wife perform together at home was a memorable experience.

"It wasn't a performance, it was just family and me. And you could sense that they had a connection that was just really powerful," Phoenix said.

Cash, whose career spanned five decades and produced classic album's such as 1968's "At Folsom Prison," died in 2003 just before filming began and four months after his wife died.

- REUTERS