In the modern age with social media we’ve seen how actors can face backlash and criticism for their films, and it’s probably better to just ignore all the noise entirely and just worry about what you can control.
His only concern is the art, and quite frankly that sounds like the right approach.
Also by keeping the same process and approaching this movie as if it were any other, hopefully that means we will get the kind of brilliant performance the actor is known for.
As if his I’m Still Here antics didn’t make it clear, Joaquin Phoenix really doesn’t care about what people think or their expectations for him in a role or any of those sort of macro considerations that really have nothing to do with his performance.