Joaquin Phoenix Set to Play French Emperor Napoleon in Ridley Scott's Kitbag : Report
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Dominique Charriau/WireImage; VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Joaquin Phoenix is set to play French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte (right)
Joaquin Phoenix has booked a new gig since becoming a father.
The Oscar-winning actor is taking on the role of French emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte for Ridley Scott's upcoming film Kitbag, according to Deadline.
This is the first time Phoenix and Scott are working together again since the 2000 epic Gladiator.
The movie is intended to focus on Napoleon’s historic battles, ambition and strategy that made him a military genius. Also included in the film will be Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship, Deadline reported.
Napoleon rose to power during France's revolutionary wars and became emperor in 1804. He was exiled to Elba in 1814, escaped and reigned as emperor again until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. He was then re-exiled to St. Helena, where he died in 1821 at the age of 51.
According to the outlet, the title of the film derives from the saying, "There is a general’s staff hidden in every soldier’s kitbag."
Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Actor earlier this year for his role in Joker. He has previously been nominated for Walk the Line, The Master and the epic Gladiator.
Besides his busy film career, Phoenix recently added a new title to his résumé: father. He and fiancée Rooney Mara welcomed their first child together — a son, River, named after Phoenix's late brother who died in 1993.
Russian filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky, who Phoenix worked with on the dialogue-free documentary Gunda, confirmed the name of the couple's baby during an appearance at the 2020 Zurich Film Festival.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix
"He just got a baby by the way," Kossakovsky said Sunday while speaking at the festival. "A beautiful son called River."
Mara, 35, and Phoenix met on the set of the 2013 film Her and made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
The two got engaged last year, first sparking rumors in May when The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo actress was photographed wearing a large diamond ring on her left hand.
"She's the only girl I ever looked up on the internet," Phoenix told Vanity Fair of Mara in a November cover interview.
