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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?
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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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