Joker star Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara have been a couple longer than most people realise and so it’s pretty natural to expect them to have cutesy nicknames for each other. As it turns out, Joaquin’s pet name for Rooney is less cute and more “oh, they definitely have a kinky sex life.”
After receiving the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival for Joker, Joaquin gave a shout out to Rooney in his acceptance speech (via Us Weekly):
“One last thing, somewhere here, I don’t know where, is a filthy dragon, and I want to rip its wings off and fasten a blanket and sleep with it forever. I love you. Thank you.”
Uh, what?
A “filthy dragon?”
It’s definitely a reference to Rooney’s famous role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo but where does the “filthy” part come in?
And why on earth does Joaquin want to “rip its wings off and fasten a blanket and sleep with it forever?” That sounds a bit unsavoury.
We’re not going to pretend to know what goes on in their relationship since they’re super private with their personal lives and they’re definitely within their right to not reveal anything.
But one can’t help but think that this whole “filthy dragon” thing is a glimpse into what is presumably an incredibly kinky sex life. If Joaquin’s comfortable calling Rooney by that nickname out in public, imagine what he calls her when they’re in bed.
There’s also the possibility that we’re reading too much into this “filthy dragon” name and it’s nothing more than Joaquin Phoenix doing his usual Joaquin Phoenix schtick.
Either way, here’s the big question: If Rooney Mara is “filthy dragon,” what on earth is Joaquin’s nickname? If we go by the established naming convention, it’s probably going to be something like “creepy psycho clown” or “seedy Jesus.”