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I know Joaquin Phoenix has said he's quitting acting. Well, he just put in a career-ending performance tonight on David Letterman. (That's Joaquin below, looking like he just joined ZZ Top...) The guy is way too talented to be behaving like this when he's supposed to be promoting his latest movie Two Lovers. Or else the joke's on us -- and he's just goofing for Casey Affleck's mockumentary on him and his supposed foray into the music biz. I've learned that Casey was indeed backstage at the show. But Dave and the rest of the staff truly thought this was for real. Was it?
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I thought it was hilarious.
This is just another Andy Kaufman routine. Think about it folks, he’s been followed around with camera crews at every stunt, the stage-fall, the various rap shows, and now this. It’s all a stunt. Give it time, it’s either going to be genius or a flop. After it’s all over he’ll be back and just fine. This is a clever, clever man, we’ve all seen his passion and intelligence regarding the craft, he knows what he’s doing and is simply trying something new. Mark my word.
painful, however some how dave saves the day for night.
this should be a anti drug psa
Funny. Nikki, you know the whole thing is a goof right? Very funny!
So is this an act? I heard it’s all for a “documentary” Casey Affleck is making about pompous actors, and so Phoenix has to go full out with the character, not stopping when the camera stops recording.
That schtick was innovative…30 years ago when Andy Kaufman did it. But kudos to Phoenix for not being boring.
ok, even if this is a joke… it is not funny. in fact, it is kinda lame. he is too talented to be behaving like a child. go back to making amazing movies. who is advising this guy? seriously, paging joaquin’s publicist…
He’s got everyone fooled. What a great put on!!
Alvarez, sorry buddy but ive seen this guy do his thing and he is heading down a dark road.
I don’t think it’s a joke – if it is, it’s the most sublime and ridiculous joke ever perpetrated by a celebrity.
To quote Spinal Tap, there’s such a thin line between clever and stupid. He’s either losing his mind or pulling one of the best pranks in Hollywood history.
Excruciatingly, painfully funny!
I miss the old painfully sarcastic Dave. He hasn’t been this good for a long time. If Phoenix is putting on a Kaufman act, all I gotta say about that is, he’s no Andy Kaufman.
Um,genius? Did no one see Man On The Moon? C’mon — he’s totally ripping off Andy Kaufman. If you liked what Andy did — that was genius. Been done, Joaquin, go back to acting. We need more actors and less celebs.
It was my first instinct to think he has been putting us on but…if this is a joke…the man is beyond genius at his method-acting. He’s good…but I really don’t think so.
Nikki, I love you, but ends career is kinda strong. I think Joaquin will weather it.
It’s a bit.
ROTFLMAO
Dave rules the day…
Phoenix is a tool.
fake fake fake
gotcha! we’re all being punked and Dave is in on it. He’s good, but not that good. There are tiny nuances in this interview that reveals it’s a joke.
Ummm… it’s so obviously a performance… even Dave’s timing is visible… C’Mon…
Good Bit
This is just sad.
“This is just another Andy Kaufman routine.”
As long as he doesn’t start singing the Mighty Mouse theme…
Bit or not this is Dave at his best. Amazing.
That was the most awkward event I’ve seen since Crispin Glovers crazy platform shoe stunt
This isn’t the 70’s. We don’t need another Kaufman-esque deception. My life isn’t so empty that I have time or interest to follow this “joke”. I hope he does quit acting. I don’t really have any more interest in him.
I mean is this for real?
It’s obviously a put-on, but as others have stated not particularly clever, definitely not fresh and please don’t use genius – not even close to the definition. Just another self-indulgent actor trying to be different from all of the other self-indulgent actors. But it made Dave shine! He’s much better an actor – with his straight man schtick – than most sitting across from him.
They pre-interview people before they go on shows like this. There’s no way they would’ve let him go on if he had nothing to talk about or to plug. This is 100% B.S.
I hope we get the punchline from Joaquin at some point, but that was funny no matter what. If it was an act, he might have told Letterman as soon as it was over. As he gets up to storm off, he turns back, takes off his sunglasses, shakes Dave’s hand and starts to tell him something. Looked to me like he might have been apologizing/explaining. Regardless, that was really entertaining.
This is a bad joke. Joaquin is no Borat.
If he is trying to pull a Kaufman, he’s got huge shoes to fill. Back in the early 80’s I worked at Tower Records in Hollywood. Just a little before closing at midnight, there were only (thank God) a few customers in the store whom we tried our best to politely hustle out. One of them was Andy. He was dressed like your cousin from Omaha who thinks splurging on suits at Sears is a big deal. He was reading Rolling Stone and was extremely agitated. As I walked up to him to gently remind him we were closing, he looked at me through thick glasses and said “Can you believe this? Oh my God, can you believe this? Look!” He thrust the RS page at me which prominently featured a picture of Tony Clifton in all of his obnoxious glory. “My God, this man is ruining my career! Why is he doing this, oh God!” I was speechless, he really acted hurt and upset. So I responded the only way I could under the circumstances: “I’m really sorry about that, Mr. Kaufman, but we’re closing”. He put the magazine down and hustled out the doors, still muttering. This “performance” was for the benefit of an audience of one. Let’s see you work that magic, Mr. Phoenix.
how many people had to okay this? It’s so sad and dave was a dick to him. I can’t believe they let him just flop around like there. If it wasn’t planned and no one pulled the plug on this, that is just wrong.
Dave is absolutely hilarious and strong in his delivery. Phoenix is throwing shredding hard years of hard work, joke or not. I’m sure the studios happy.
I do not believe this is acting. What would be the point of To intentionally looking confused and nervous.
It seemed apparent that he is having some sort of chemical imbalance. Could be prescried meds gone wrong or a self prescribed concoction, but the awkwardness,
shakiness and unbalance all point to an uncontrolled performance.
It reminded me of how Charles Grodin would mess with Johnny Carson. You callow youth think Andy Kaufman invented everything.
Look up Crispin Glover’s appearance on Letterman. If Dave isn’t ‘in on it’ (as he is with Phoenix and as he was with Kaufman) he doesn’t know what to do. Glover’s appearance is friggen great.
I called Phoenix’s act as being a prank the first time he ‘retired’ on the red carped. Affleck is what gave it away for me.
Whether personality or put on.
All signs point to bad.
Notice how phoenix tries so hard to hide his smile when Dave makes his unibomber crack? Totally a joke. He is fighting laughter at various times
I wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up being a scene in the mockumentary phoenex and affleck seem to be working on.
Meanwhile… Emile Hirsch’s people do cartwheels.
I dunno…am I the only one who thought it dull? It reminded me of a sophomore level sociology experiment…getting unsuspecting marks to feel uncomfortable when someone breaks the social code. eh.
Go back and watch ALL of his interviews… Leno, Letterman… Regis… all of them. He’s the same in all of them. Unique. Funny… interesting… strange… but not your run of the mill cheesy actor. In this one, yeah, he’s crazy as shit. But I think you’re nuts to jump to the conclusion that this is a full on act. I think he’s a performer, always performing. I think he’s taking on a new persona. Plus, people called his bluff weeks ago on the rap thing. If it was bullshit, then you’d have to assume he’s retarded to pursue when everyone else thinks he’s bogus.
PEOPLE…(and Nikki)…this is SO obviously a bit and Dave is totally in on it, he’s not that stupid and he’s playing along with “crazy for today” Joaquin!
Let’s all wait for the Docu…
Nikki, don’t be so gullible. Its show biz. You may not like what he’s doing or “get it” but it’s his thing, at least for now.
Dave clearly was in on it because if he wasn’t, Joaquin wouldn’t have gotten off so easy.
And ZZTop? Come on, you’re showing your age so it’s not surprising you wouldn’t get what he’s going for.
If it is an act, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a shot of the guys reading this very page, laughing at it.
And I think there has to be something more to it because trying to pull a Kaufman with a celebrity camera guy doesn’t really make any sense. Maybe it will focus on celebrity obsession vs. focus on actual news.
Is Joaquin the next Heath?
Interesting. But remember that Andy Kaufman was only a semi successful comic who had a supporting roile on a tv show, This kid is a major, award winning actor. He doesnt need stuts to get attention. Andy Kaufman was never that well known, even when he was alive.
This is from a family where his brother died from drugs. This is a destruction of credibility.
It’s really wierd, because if you take a look at a clip from another Late Show appearance you’ll see that he is quite normal and chumy with Dave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFbiNwrBILU
David Letterman did a great job with this interview, and I was laughing the whole time. Joaquin Phoenix is a great actor – I was just reading a review of Walk the Line on EverHype (www.everhype.com/?utm_source=bc) and they gave it 3.75 stars and called it “Great.” He must be pulling our leg, because if he isn’t, he’s probably losing it.
Who gives a fuck. The bikini bitch was all I was staying UP for.
I enjoyed every minute of this performance, and I’m still laughing. As Dave said, Joaquin’s a fantastic actor and here’s the proof.
Joaquin is a terrific actor, but this is totally fake and frankly, his WORST acting ever. You can see right through all of this – it is just his attempt to get all “Sasha Baron Cohen” and later laugh at how we all “believed” it. C’mon. He’s totally unconvincing. He’s no SBC, and this is just a poorly thought out stunt that is lasting way too long. I saw it when he first announced he was going to quit acting. YA RIGHT. This “prank” is as see-thru as they come.
I think he’s having a breakdown and everyone is just watching not helping him. This really makes me sad. Why can’t someone step in an help him understand people are laughing at him. If this truely is the case then casey is either taking atvatage of the situation or on the same drugs Joaquin is on but Joaquin is bordering a psycotic breakdown.
It was stupid, and unfunny when Andy Kaufman did it too. He’d better hope he dies young because it’s the only way he’s getting out of this ridiculous schtick.
This is why Dave is the real King of Late Night. He can make awkward silence funny.
Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?
uh well this doesnt seem like a joke to me at all. he seemed honestly offended that dave was picking on him and dave really took it too far. i mean if you look at joaquins body language it is obvious he was uncomfortable – he had trouble getting words out when “jokes” were made; was scratching his beard, drank water, mumbled a little – tried hard not to cuss dave out and actually did drop an f-bomb at the musician.
youre supposed to feel comfortable on a talk show not as if youve just had the rug pulled out from under you and made a laughing stock. even the bald musician got in on it and the crowd all night was horrible.
look, these are artists who have quirks. they are not all gonna be absolute charmers and exactly the mainstream definition of “normal”. they need to feel safe when theyre out doing publicity. and god i know i had it happen to me when you think youre talking to a friend at first only to have them reveal themselves to be malicious and making fun of you instead.
dave was a huge prick. this is why i watch leno and not letterman. i swear ive tried watching dave at least five times and everytime im bored as heck. maybe hes an east coast thing?
when he turned to speak to dave as the camera cut away at the end, i kind thought it might be a goof. otherwise what the hell was that…yeh, it probably was a performance, otherwise why would his people let him go on the show?
pbj saw just what I saw — he cracked a smile and then suppressed it. It’s probably an act, but what if it isn’t? Frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with him acting however he goddamn well pleases in public. If this did turn out to be who he is — what’s so imbalanced about it? Going on a talkshow like LNwDL that is a nerve wracking experience, to be sure. Remember when Quentin Tarantino went on Leno and started talking like an 80 year old black woman from the deep South — drunk off his ass? It made for good TV. Why is everyone complaining?
Joaquim has always been a bad non-talkative talk show guest— and the producers at Letterman, Leno, etc. know this. The producers at Dave knew what they were getting when they booked him. Whoever the segment producer was of Joaquim’s interview could have probably done a bit of a better job pre-show in preparing Joaquim backstage. Or if there was not any opportunity to better prepare Joaquim they the show’s producers could have cut his segment short and could have added in a standby pre-taped comedy sketch. I blame the Letterman producers for this debacle. Also- it really is no secret that Joaquim is just a bad talk show guest- the entire talk show industry knows this and through the years Joaquim’s publicist Susan Patricola has always shielded him and protected him from this type of debacle. Question #1- Is Susan no longer handling Joaquim ? Question #2-If she is handling Joaquim then why did she even book Letterman and throw Joaquim into this situation knowing that he
could not handle this type of talk show venue ?
Gotta be a joke for the “documentary”.
A sort of – look at how stupid the media/fans are type of thing.
It’s a performance. Plain and simple. It’s all part of the plan. Guy’s going nowhere and it’s high time someone in his position exposed mass media as the marketing machine it is…
I think it’s a work.
Hey, the beard thing is mine!
I am really wondering if Joaquin still has a publicist or if he does not listen to his publicist or if his publicist is MIA. Hoax or no hoax, this is an actor of great talent who should be getting and following much better advice. Shades of the Tom Cruise disaster and Oprah’s couch. His representation should be embarrassed and replaced! This is a professional miscalculation.
I love that Dave got him to break and laugh a bit with “joaquin I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight!”
Fake.
I’ve worked with both Crispin Glover and Joaquin and I doubt this is a ‘fake’. Just because you are a successful and talented actor doesn’t mean you are comfortable in a live interview or prepared to talk happily about work you did a year ago.
And the studios give you no choice. You must sign a contract to promote the films however they see fit or you don’t get paid.
As one possibility, he didn’t want to do the interview and was forced so he saw no reason to be glib. Either way, I feel for the guy who is one of the nicest, most generous, caring people in the business.
So freaking sad. He is obviously for real. He is spaced out, fidgety, and paranoid. If it’s a joke, it’s not on us, because people are either not laughing or laughing AT him. It’s time for people close to him to STOP enabling him with the entertainment business aspect…Rap music, a documentary etc and save the PERSON. If he is being real, he needs REAL help. It reminds me of the Crispin Glover Letterman Ep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALapHYNSmoA
This is indeed Borat meets Andy Kaufman. It’s done to show just how phony the whole celebrity thing is and how everyone tries to manipulate the mainstream media. Sounds like a fun and witty documentarty.
I fully expect he’ll be on Letterman to promote it.
Ok, from what I’ve heard he’s a person of the variety that shouldn’t be drinking. If this is a joke, the punchline will soon be jail, institutions, or death. Let’s hope he gets well soon.
The only thing that bothers me here is that when stars “wig out,” the media treats the beard as the indicator of madness. For a time, even Dave sported a beard on the air, like a real man, if I recall correctly.
Is not society’s mandate to be shaven just like what they used to do to inmates in a madhouse?
Hoist on your own pet beard, fashionistae!
it’s all for the documentary. at the end of it, just like andy kaufman, he fakes his own death. on the sidewalk outside of the viper room. gonna be hilarious.
Casey needs the “Dave” footage; silly geese… “When you little scamps get together, you’re worse than a sewing circle,” says the mischievous, glittery-eyed Mia…
Peace Everywhere,
Rudi Rose
Seriously, anybody calling this a career-ending appearance must be overdosing on emo-kid douche pills. Shut the hell up an report better. Geez…lousy.
Who is Andy Kaufman?
TWO LOVERS is really good! Check it out. Not sure how the studio feels about his style, but people are talking…
Keith – WTF?!!! Who is Andy Kaufman???? Your savvy enough to find DHD. Now find Wikipedia and You tube and then give us a book report on Andy Kaufman and his relevance to yesterday’s shenanigans.
Sheeesh! Kids these days!
I think the people who were disgusted by Dave’s demeanor here are not regular viewers (as many of them stated). Otherwise, they would recognize every stroke of his brush here. Don’t worry, everybody.
But just now I wondered if anyone noticed that they managed to show a movie clip where virtually nothing is happening – like they looked for the least interestig 30 seconds they could find.
So THAT’S what happened to Jack’s beard on LOST!
Awkwardly entertaining!
I love the way everyone says, “Oh, he’s obviously just making an ass out of himself and wasting everyone’s time.”…as if there’s nothing wrong with that.
who is etoro18?
the spirit of A. Kaufman
It presumptuous to make these distinctions this early. Whatever comes out of this it can be good or bad… But, given his intelligence and creativity I wouldn’t sell the hate just yet.
That beard looks like something straight outta Cinema Secrets in Burbank…I hope he’s faking, because the family has an unfortunate history. :/
Are you sure that’s Joaquin and not Jack from “Lost”?
It’s sad that Joaquin had to do this stunt at the expense of TWO LOVERS. Great film that had a hard time with distribution in today’s economy. TWO LOVERS deserves all the help it can get and for Joaquin to be a bumbling mockumentary guinea pig at its expense is too bad.
OK…so I’ve read most all of these comments…and not once did I see anyone recognize/identify what’s up
He’s rollin’ really hard with probably some acid on top!
anyone who’s ever rolled really hard around people, especially someone older and more “outspoken/agressive” can actually “feel” WHAT Joaquin is feeling….and ya’know…if I was “contracted” to appear on Dave’s show, I’d be trying to numb the experience too! Dave’s an ass and the biz dictates PR appearances…buzzed out or not..Mr. Phoenix is a big enough name that he duzzint need to “bow down” to the late night semi-god.
Good for Mr Phoenix…and lettin’ it all hang out…hardly a career killer…more like a new recruitment promo.
Joaquin Phoenix is the next Farrah Fawcett. Sad but true. Though at least Farrah looks like she bathes occasionally.
So what we’ve got here is a bunch of savvier people who know a publicity stunt when they see it…
A bunch of wannabe screenwriters and bartenders who are chanting for a public JP meltdown…
And some plants from JPs crew making sure to throw a couple denials in to keep the goofballs guessing.
Obviously it’s working because you nutsacks are still burning up pageviews talking about it.
Hmm… i watched this ep in Australia at about 12am…. hmm… it seems a lot of people are saying its a fake, but others believing what they see as some form of medical conditon. Regardless, i found it a bit off-putting and a poor performance. 0/10 for maturity. Grow up Joaquin
soooo if sue patracola really is his publicist, i think she may have posted the following earlier comment — she signed it as “sue”… sneaky
“I enjoyed every minute of this performance, and I’m still laughing. As Dave said, Joaquin’s a fantastic actor and here’s the proof.”
nikki, looks like publicists are infiltrating… uh oh!
Total spoof and publicity stunt.
Publicity. The character in the movie is most likely like the man you saw on David Letterman last night.
Here’s my theory (2nd one); he’s going through a period of severe depression. He did one project in 2008; TWO LOVERS and not currently working. He looks tired in the movie and with no energy as he delivers he lines and when he moves. He needs help.
This may be a genius stunt, but if we see it all performed live then won’t the movie be a boring rehash of the stunts he’s pulling?
Stop blaming the publicist for giving this idiot “bad advice.” As a publicist, you give advice, but you can’t make any actor/famous person/President/Vice Presidential candidate heed your advice.
Any idiot can make a fool of himself/herself. In fact, PR is left with cleaning up the mess these idiots make – - which happens to be the fun part of the job. I’ll take a Mel Gibson DWI incident over a Hollywood premiere any day of the week.
Plus – - this film has just now had more publicity than it would have had otherwise and is the better for it. Women love Phoenix. They will show up at the ticket booth.