Joaquin Phoenix

[Bread]

I just happened to catch this interview on Letterman last night. Guy has lost it. It was completely hilarious and uncomfortable.




Joaquin Phoenix’s transition from lauded actor to showbiz curiosity gathered pace last night when he made a shambolic appearance on The David Letterman Show.
After perplexing fans recently by announcing he was quitting acting to become a hip-hop artist, the 34-year-old appeared on the chat show to promote his last film, Two Lovers, but gave only stammering one-word answers.
At one point, he pulled a wad of chewing gum from his mouth and stuck it to the host’s desk.
Letterman welcomed him with a glowing introduction and initially worked hard to coax answers out of the unresponsive star. But after receiving a raft of one-word replies, the presenter, known for his cutting wit, gave in to the live audience’s disbelieving laughter and began mocking the unkempt-looking Phoenix.

Taking aim at his shaggy beard, he enquired: “What can you tell us about your days with the Unabomber?”
Phoenix, who has been nominated for two Oscars, appeared vaguely offended but went on to take questions about Two Lovers, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow.
Asked if it was correct that the film was based on a book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, he replied: “I don’t know.”
When told it says so in the opening credits, he responded: “Does it? I haven’t seen the movie.”
An increasingly disbelieving Letterman went on to broach Phoenix’s career change, which some believe is an elaborate hoax for a Hollywood mockumentary.
Asked if he would ever act again, Phoenix said: “Never say never, right? I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen.”
“But you’re not going to act anymore?” Letterman probed.
“No,” replied Phoenix.
“Why is that?”
“I don’t know,” the star responded.
Phoenix initiated only one exchange, when he zeroed on in a barely visible blemish on Letterman’s hand. “Are you alright? What happened to your thumb?’ he enquired.
The odd question sent the audience into fits of laughter, which only became louder when Letterman replied: “It’s just a little cuticle mishap.”
At one point, the frustrated host told Phoenix off for chewing gum, prompting the star to pull the wad from his mouth and stick it to the underside of Letterman’s desk.
Despite an increasingly tense atmosphere, Phoenix said he would like to come back on the show to unveil some of his hip-hop tracks.
“That seems unlikely,” Letterman replied, before closing the interview with: “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight”.
Phoenix’s unusual behaviour began last November when he announced he was quitting acting for music. It was assumed he had been inspired by playing Johnny Cash in the hit film Walk The Line.
But last month, a video of the star rapping was posted on YouTube. After watching his talentless performance, in which he fell from the stage, fans assumed it was a joke.
The constant presence of a film crew, led by Casey Affleck, has added to rumours that the career change is merely a PR stunt.
Phoenix, however, insists Affleck is making a documentary about his transition from acting to music and that he is serious about his new career.

[Matt Rain]

Crispin Glover wannabe.

[Bread]

Brought back memories of that interview fo sho.

[Spanks]

lol...tormented talent

[so im zach]

I heard he's doing this for a Borat-like movie.

It's all an act.

[Boner_18]

Yeah its worse schtick than JJ Gold.

[fiveteamer]

If he's doing a Fubar type movie, then it is cool. He will owe Letterman once the joke is up, however.

[Iwinyourmoney]

I seriously was laughing during that whole clip, haha

[EaglesPhan36]

PR stunt & a horrible one at that. Was uncomfortably funny, mostly because of Letterman and how he handled it.

[seaborneq]

That was horrible. letterman pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the interview.

[Bluehorseshoe]

I wonder if drugs were involved.


Who was his brother again?

[Immortality]

Letterman did a great job making that watchable.

[Dark Horse]

Great stuff! He was definitely on smack.

60's vibe. Jim Morrison. lol

[Matt Rain]

Seems like he was piss-drunk - slurred his speech like crazy.

And yeah, Letterman handled him brilliantly. Guy is a master at squeezing every last ounce of funny out of anyone.

[Dbldown11]

he wasnt on drugs.....he's just an incredible actor. You could see him slip up a couple times during the interview but all in all it was good....

It's all obviously a scam or he's method acting for something but either way it's genious and he's great at it. Casey Affleck follows him around everywhere and films him....If this was for real people would be getting him help,not filming his demise

[Dark Horse]

This is from the new movie's director. Last night was someone who's left that world behind him.

Two Lovers Director James Gray Says Goodbye to Joaquin Phoenix

by James Gray | Published February 11, 2009

Joaquin Phoenix announced his retirement recently, and though I was profoundly disappointed, I can’t say I was surprised. Joaquin is best described as a mercurial person, so there’s a chance he might yet change his mind (selfishly, I hope he does). But his decision is consistent with the person he is and was and always will be.

Joaquin doesn’t care about anything but the work, and even then he cares only about process—never the product (he doesn’t even watch his own movies). The young man gave acting everything he had. Perhaps he just ran out of gas. I know now how hard it is to find a true original like him, and that for a time I simply got lucky.

I first met Joaquin in 1997, on a cold winter night in New York. It was a brutal evening after a brutal day, and I’d had nothing less than a brutal week trying to cast my film, The Yards. I’d met with what seemed like 100 actors, and most of them seemed talented and enthusiastic. But what they all lacked—for me, anyway—was a certain quality that separates the best from the rest: The ability to communicate a complex inner life.

The camera doesn’t lie, or so they say (though others have said it lies constantly, and both are right), but what it does above all else is magnify. If you think it, you can think it a whole lot on the big screen and you don’t have to say a word. If you don’t care, we can see that you don’t, 20 feet high. It’s a heightened reality, but necessarily a more intimate one, and if you’re at war with yourself, the medium tends to reward you. After only a few moments of conversation, it was immediately clear to me that Joaquin was that and many other things. He was conflicted, he was bright and he was hungry. Something else was obvious: Joaquin had danger. I wasn’t scared of him, but I was scared of what he might do—most of all to himself. I had to work with him as soon as possible.

Looking back on our first collaboration, I’m not sure we actually collaborated all that much. I seem to remember a whole lot of torment and angst and yelling and screaming. But I also remember consistently being amazed by the emotional depth of the then-24-year-old. I loved his feral unpredictability; he seemed ready to explode at any minute.

He was hard on himself—a true perfectionist—though just as often, his fury was directed at me. I didn’t care. We had one thing in common and that was a total commitment to the work. We will no doubt fail, we told each other over and over again, but at least we will fail giving it everything we have. He was untrained and undisciplined, usually requiring multiple takes and a great deal of coaching. So did I.

The Yards now feels like the first round of a boxing match in which neither fighter seems ready to engage. Both dance around the ring at the sound of the bell, sizing each other up, waiting for the real battle to begin. What are the strengths of my opponent? The weaknesses? What terrible surprises might be in store? We went six years before working together again, though we did see each other frequently and became good friends. We recognized that we had the same tastes; every now and then, we would call each other, usually late at night—Did you see that movie? What a piece of shit!—and the call would last for hours.

I learned, too, that Joaquin had admirers from all walks of life. When Johnny Cash told me he could quote “that Phoenix fella” at will, I decided to put the two of them together for dinner. What followed was, of course, a meal for the ages. I could see his craft reaching a new level in Walk the Line, and I’ll confess I became a little jealous of Jim Mangold, the film’s director. I knew the next picture I made would have to have that Phoenix fella in it.

Our second picture together, We Own the Night, was different. I can’t speak for Joaquin (though lord knows I’ve tried and failed many times), but for me it was a more complex and contentious and rewarding experience. He’d matured and he’d begun to grow out of me. It was as though he understood his weapon and was figuring out how best to use it. He thought long and hard about every scene, turning it over in his mind, and he studied his script until it became hopelessly tattered and all but unreadable.

We worked night and day, rehearsing and discussing. Sometimes it would lead to horrible arguments—often my fault! I’m no diplomat—but in my (weak) defense, there were times I couldn’t distinguish with whom I was speaking. Was it character or actor?

This time he went in—and went in deep. “You want me to see my father dead in the street? Well, then, I might vomit for real.” (He did.) “You want me to be terrified of that man? Go ahead, have him belt me right in the face.” (He got walloped, but good.) “You want me to swallow that charcoal? Force it down my throat, man.” (He inhaled with relish.)

The crew was in awe of his level of commitment and it raised everyone’s game. You knew if you didn’t give it everything you had, you were letting him down somehow. There’s no amount of money you can pay an actor for that. It makes the process of motivating cast and crew a cakewalk. Thank you for that, Joaquin.

I wrote Two Lovers knowing that if Joaquin didn’t want to do it it would never get made. The role was created for him: A tormented soul, struggling, lost, lonely and, finally, beautiful and heartbreaking. Who else could do it? Who else would?

Thankfully for me, he said yes, and the shoot was the happiest of the three. We developed a shorthand, but more often than not he was on his own—and he was liberated. The result is work that seems to my eyes eerily redolent of Montgomery Clift at his best.

Forgive me, but I have trouble accepting this retirement thing. I need Joaquin’s moments of authentic heartbreak, of unfiltered emotion, of poetic humanity. Joaquin shares my passion for exploring the melancholy movements of life, the sad awareness of time’s ruthless march; and he far surpasses me in emotional intellect, always ready to recognize genuine tenderness and reject all artifice. He has embraced an elegant, higher truth.

At the end of Two Lovers, Joaquin seemed simultaneously exhausted and bored. He’d left most of us in the dust long ago.

Perhaps that’s why he’s done with acting: When you can do it all yourself and your genius has outgrown the mediocrity of others, why bother?

[MonkeyF0cker]

No. He was definitely coked out of his mind. He was jawing all of his responses and was chewing gum to induce salivary output. He was extremely uncomfortable and awkward in his movements as well. Definitely on coke. Trust me. I've been there.

[Bluehorseshoe]

No. He was definitely coked out of his mind. He was jawing all of his responses and was chewing gum to induce salivary output. He was extremely uncomfortable and awkward in his movements as well. Definitely on coke. Trust me. I've been there.

I was going to say the same thing.

[Bread]

Yep if its an act it's a damn good one. His jaw was racing something fierce. It wasn't pretty. But entertaining!

[Dbldown11]

No. He was definitely coked out of his mind. He was jawing all of his responses and was chewing gum to induce salivary output. He was extremely uncomfortable and awkward in his movements as well. Definitely on coke. Trust me. I've been there.

Or he's doing what people call "acting"....it's an odd concept but what they do is portray a role. So if their role is that of a drug addict they "act" like a drug addict.....

C'mon people, if this were for real why is Casey Affleck following him around with a camera filming it all? He just wants to film his brother-in-laws demise and drug addiction?

[Dark Horse]

Too introverted for coke. Heroin. He wasn't really there. With coke you're there. With coke he would have joked around with Letterman. Fast. The guy was in slo mo.

[Bread]

He was X'd out.

[Mudcat]

This highlights an area where the concept of what is funny has left me behind.

I find that more and more, people think uncomfortable = funny. It is a major concept behind a show like The Office and something like Borat. Whether what is happening in that clip is calculated or not, people in this thread find something positive and entertaining in it.

To me, uncomfortable is just uncomfortable. I turned the clip off pretty quick. I am an old poop.

[daggerkobe]

Wow, how can you guys not see he is acting?

He even slipped up at the end and laughed when Letterman said "Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

[Dbldown11]

I'm wondering the same thing dagger....but ill tell you why.

We live in an incredibly gullable country....and a country that has a steeply declining overall IQ..

Ever seen the movie idiocracy????????? We are well on our way hahaha

[daggerkobe]

Also took off his sunglasses and said "Good job!"

[MonkeyF0cker]

Too introverted for coke. Heroin. He wasn't really there. With coke you're there. With coke he would have joked around with Letterman. Fast. The guy was in slo mo.

You've obviously never done coke for an extended period of time. There is no doubt he was on coke. You don't jaw like that on heroin. And trust me, coke heads are introverts. The recreational user isn't because they aren't used to it. There were many times where I had done close to a ball and would go home, close all the window blinds and drapes, lock all the doors, go into my room and lock the door. If that's not introverted, what is?

[Spanks]

You've obviously never done coke for an extended period of time. There is no doubt he was on coke. You don't jaw like that on heroin. And trust me, coke heads are introverts. The recreational user isn't because they aren't used to it. There were many times where I had done close to a ball and would go home, close all the window blinds and drapes, lock all the doors, go into my room and lock the door. If that's not introverted, what is?

sounds exciting...did you put your monkey in garters...

[Chi_archie]

this was an interesting watch... Letterman has had some all-time great interesting interviews...

Andy Kaufman
crispin Glover
bill o'reilly
drew barrymore
farrah faucett ect

this guy was acting.......
after the interview was over, you see him talk to Dave... either he was apologizing for putting him through that and explaining there was a bigger purpose to his stupidity, or he was telling dave he was gonna kick his ass.....

because he did seem pissed at points, so if he wasn't acting.....Dude wanted to kick Paul and Dave's ass...

[fiveteamer]

I won't watch Dave until he wear sneakers again.

fukk this guy.

[Boner_18]

Yeah its worse schtick than JJ Gold.

As I said. All schtick. Him and Afleck were experimenting with "Gonzo Filmmaking"

[Bluehorseshoe]

Here he is on Letterman again.

[Full Time Hobo]

Here he is on Letterman again.

Saw it - was hoping he would act crazy again lol

[crafter]

The sad part about Joaquin is that he probably does not have drug problems only personality problems..... I think it's a miracle he is still alive... poor thing one day he's going to believe he can fly and he's going to jump.

[EmpireMaker]

Pheonix is a DOUCHE !!!!