Oooh. Joaquin Phoenix went mental didn’t he? He went from being a Stars In Their Eyes Johnny Cash to rambling bum almost overnight. Except, of course, that it was clearly a big con. It was all some Andy Kaufman style performance that waded straight into the theatre of squirmitude.
Naturally, all that surrounded the actor muttered about how this was all very real and that he really was being seriously with his terrible rapping and generally falling off stages.
And now, to put us all out of our misery, Casey Affleck has finally admitted in an interview with the New York Times that,. I’m Still Here is a mockumentary of Joaquin Phoenix’s descent from famed to mumbling tit. In short, they’ve been having some of you on. Affleck told the NY Times:
“It’s a terrific performance, the performance of his career.”
This of course, leads everyone to reassess Phoenix’s infamous appearance on the David Letterman show, where he looked and sounded more haggard that George Best on Wogan.
Affleck assures us all that it was faked and that Letterman himself wasn’t in on the joke. Nice to know what a charming man Letterman is when faced with someone potentially going through a nervous breakdown though, eh?
All this chatter is to promote I’m Still Here which arrives in UK cinemas today. It’s probably wise that Affleck owns up now because otherwise, you could’ve had a bunch of people disgruntled and writing withering asides about the project online. Now, they can hoot about how clever it all is.
One Guardian critic says of Phoenix’s performance:
“This whole stunt could have been a piece of celeb-savvy performance art, which Phoenix approached with the dedication of Robert De Niro bulking up for Raging Bull.
“Joaquin Phoenix will undoubtedly still be here after this is all over: how he sheepishly climbs down from this pose may be the subject of a second mocu-docu-piece. Good film; dodgy career move.”
Dedication of De Niro bulking up for Raging Bull? Has this man not seen Borat and Ali G?
Your Dad says
Read this ‘article’ back to yourself. Then learn to write.
Jessica Falvey says
I hate fakes! Authenticity is really sexy!