Joaquin Phoenix blows off TIFF presser for highly acclaimed ‘The Master’

TORONTO – Joaquin Phoenix has been receiving rapturous plaudits for his ferocious performance as a volatile ex-naval officer in “The Master,” but he still opted to skip the film’s introductory press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.

Although journalists were told up until the beginning of the gathering that the famously intense Phoenix would be present, ultimately it was left to director Paul Thomas Anderson to explain his absence.

“He’s too unpredictable,” Anderson said wryly, before swiftly moving on to another topic.

Of course, the five-time Academy Award-nominated writer-director also found time to lavish praise on Phoenix — and he’s certainly not alone.

Phoenix portrays Freddie Quell, a chronically unhinged alcoholic who returns home from the Second World War with neither direction nor purpose until he meets Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the magnetic but slippery founder of a new religion.

The actors share many intimate scenes together as Dodd attempts to reform his willing but damaged disciple — and they learned Saturday that they’re also sharing the Venice Film Festival’s prize for top actor (Anderson took directing honours).

Anderson said he’d targeted a collaboration with Phoenix for years, but he had to wait until the 37-year-old actor had finished making his bizarre 2010 pseudo-documentary/performance-art project “I’m Still Here.”

Well, Anderson said it was worth the wait. Phoenix brought a feral intensity to Freddie, as if the lustful war vet was perpetually teetering on the brink of violence.

“I knew he was great,” Anderson said of Phoenix. “But this was something else.”

Three-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams portrayed Dodd’s formidable wife, an easy gig given that the 38-year-old “Enchanted” star had collaborated with Hoffman before.

“I adore, worship, love Philip, so to get to play someone who adores, worships, loves Philip was not a big stretch for me,” said the flame-haired actress with a smile.

Still, she admits she had nerves first stepping onto the set.

“I thought this experience was going to be this very serious Paul Thomas Anderson film with Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman,” she said.

“And it was actually a lot of fun. We laughed a lot. There was a lot of exploration. So just the freedom to experiment and to fail, it was unexpected.”

At the press conference Saturday, however, certain topics were not up for exploration.

When asked how he felt about the Oscar buzz surrounding his film, Anderson merely smiled and replied: “Great.”

The other major discussion point surrounding the film is whether Hoffman’s character is inspired at all by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

The similarities are numerous. Followers of Dodd’s doctrine are urged to rid themselves of past-life demons accumulated over trillions of years of existence through “processing,” similar to Scientology’s “auditing.” Like Hubbard, Dodd portrays himself as an author, a doctor, a nuclear physicist, a theoretical philosopher and a sea captain. And the film takes place in 1950, two years before Scientology was founded.

While Anderson has acknowledged that the origins of the religion served as inspiration before, he winced as if in physical pain when a reporter brought up the connection on Saturday before gently encouraging the inquisitor to drop the topic.

Anderson did, however, address a flap over the Venice festival awards. “The Master” was reportedly the first choice to win the festival’s top prize for best film, but because of a quirk in the rules restricting a movie from winning too many trophies, the award instead went to South Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s drama “Pieta.”

But Anderson, who said the positive response to his film thus far was “so satisfying,” shrugged off the apparent controversy.

“I’m thrilled with whatever they want to hand over,” Anderson said.

“I heard some of the scuttlebutt recently, but I’m just thrilled with whatever they’ve given us.”