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Joaquin Phoenix trying outfits for the Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line”.

According to director James Mangold, when Joaquin Phoenix was learning how to sing and play guitar like Johnny Cash, his voice was too high and the band learned how to play Cash’s songs in a higher key. Just before filming started, Joaquin’s voice dropped closer to John’s level, and the band had to re-learn the songs in their original key.

Johnny Cash approved Joaquin Phoenix to play him in the film because he liked his performance in the movie Gladiator. June Carter Cash also approved Reese Witherspoon for her role in the film.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon performed all of the songs themselves, without being dubbed. They also learned to play their instruments (guitar and auto-harp, respectively) from scratch.