Kmarion wrote:
This catatonic, shambolic figure, his clothes unkempt and his weight ballooning, was unrecognizable from the youthful and beautiful portrayer of Emperor Commodus in Gladiator and country singer Johnny Cash in the biopic Walk the Line. Hilarious, tragic or both, the clip became an instant hit on YouTube and the subject of heated debate on internet blogs such as Gawker and The Huffington Post.
There are some who suspect that Phoenix is following the sad and well worn trajectory of a movie actor in meltdown. They recall how his older brother, River, died from a drug overdose outside Los Angeles club the Viper Room in 1993; it was the teenage Joaquin who called the emergency services, the frantic recording of which was later broadcast across the world. Now 34 and claiming to have retired from acting, Joaquin's erratic behavior and appearance have conjured the specter of Howard Hughes and fears of a nervous breakdown.
But there is a counter-theory that his pitiful display was an elaborate hoax - and will, eventually, be revealed as part of a Borat-style satire on Hollywood and its jaundiced media culture. During the Letterman interview, he was filmed by his brother-in-law, the actor Casey Affleck, who claims to be making a documentary about Phoenix's new career as a rapper. Apparently journalists interviewing Phoenix about his "final" film, Two Lovers, co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow, were made to sign a confidentiality clause relating to the Affleck project. One described press day as "more like This Is Spinal Tap performance art than a publicity tour".
So is he for real? Or is he faking it? The curious case of Joaquin Phoenix is open and shut, according to Perez Hilton, the leading Hollywood gossip blogger. "The interview was hilarious and I don't think in any way at all he was being serious," he told the Observer. "He's acting: it's a performance and leaves you expecting a baroque type of movie with Casey Affleck. It's about him and his ego and the media reaction - he wants to mess with people's minds."
The ruse is starting to backfire, Hilton warned. "He turned the crazy switch on too quickly. If he'd been slower getting into it, then it would have been more believable. If he spends two years of his life on this, it will be a waste."
But James Gray, the director of Two Lovers, has said: "If it's an act, it's the most committed act I've ever seen in my life." He told USA Today last week: "He gives everything to the part. He lives it. At the end of the shoot, he told me he was tired and didn't know if he could do this any more. About two months after the movie was finished, my wife called me into the kitchen and showed me on the computer Joaquin, looking like Rasputin, saying he's quitting. I couldn't reach him. I went to his house and hopped over the fence. He has built a recording studio in his house. He told me: 'I'm doing my own thing. I'm quitting.' "
Gray admitted that he felt culpable for Phoenix's decision to turn his back on cinema. "I feel like I've ruined Joaquin Phoenix for the world."
The actor, who had a spell in rehab for alcohol addiction in 2005, announced last October that he was reinventing himself as a hip-hop artist. It seemed an extraordinary move for one of the brightest talents of his generation, who could command $10m per film. But it was not entirely beyond belief: Phoenix did, after all, sing all the Cash songs featured in Walk the Line. Having conquered Hollywood, could he flaunt another talent that would earn him accolades as the new Eminem?
No. His performances to date have met with ridicule. An impromptu rap at a dive bar in Los Angeles saw him hunched over the microphone, mumbling unconvincingly, before being booed off. On his official debut in Las Vegas in January, he stepped on stage after midnight with his untidy beard, wool cap and sunglasses, performed three songs and stumbled off to more boos. "That was a joke, right?" one woman wondered aloud. "It had to be."
In the internet age, such antics spread rapidly and are held up to scrutiny. The responses have included mockery, scepticism and the suspicion that anyone this bad must be doing it for a joke.
Quoting two "close friends" of the star, Entertainment Weekly claimed Phoenix had decided to "pretend to have a meltdown and change careers" as part of an effort to "both lampoon pompous actors and punk the media that covers them". The magazine added that Affleck, a constant presence at his side since October, was filming a documentary. "It's an art project for him," a friend of Phoenix was quoted as saying. "He's going full-out. He probably has told his reps that he's quit acting. Joaquin is very smart. He has a huge degree of control."
But Phoenix insists that his transformation is genuine and that he has been in his home recording studio in Los Angeles recording his first album, which he claims will be produced by P Diddy, with whom he has been seen fraternizing. In an interview with People magazine, he tempted fate by asking: "Are there people out there who think I'm a joke? I'm sure there will be. Are there people who think it's going to suck? Probably, but I can't worry about that."
/lol
