There's something positively Cashlike in Phoenix's commitment to living — or at least performing — on the edge. (The actor recently completed a stint in rehab for alcohol abuse.) But like Cash, he's also mortified that this intensity might put anyone out or make him seem like a diva.

''Ah, geez,'' he moans, 15 months later, when the issues of getting into character come up. As for his request to be called ''J.R.'' (Cash's actual given legal name), ''I'm embarrassed about it now. But when I heard 'Joaquin,' it just didn't feel right. It's not a brilliant method. It's simply that I don't know what I'm doing, and I use all the help I can get. It's an act of desperation.''

Phoenix winces at the memory of a photo shoot he did in Memphis, in character, with a photographer who'd often shot the real J.R. back in the day. ''And he was shooting me outside Sun Studio, and these people drove by and yelled out, 'Hey, Mr. Cash!' And this photographer was like: Oh, Jesus, this f---ing idiot, this acting punk, being called Mr. Cash... He wanted to kill me.'' A pause. ''I understood.''

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