Dave really didn't know.
In an interview with Playboy, Joaquin Phoenix discussed his now-infamous 2009 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman which culminated in him announcing his plans to retire from acting to pursue a career as a hip-hop artist. As we know, the whole thing wound up part of a yearlong stunt for Phoenix and Casey Affleck's fake documentary/art project I'm Still Here, which was intended to be a commentary on the nature of celebrity. Speaking with Playboy, Phoenix confimed that Letterman did not know what was going to happen, though the actor suggested that the comic wasn't exactly a victim either.
"David Letterman was not in on the joke," Phoenix said. "My agents, my publicist Sue Patricola — she's really good in the movie because she seems so concerned, right? — they were all in on it, of course. But look, David Letterman is one of the smartest guys on television. There's no way that guy doesn't know what's going on in some way. That's what I'll say about it."
A year after that fateful interview, Phoenix went back on Letterman to apologize. The appearance was scheduled for the show's premiere week, heavily promoted and, as a result, Late Show beat The Tonight Show in ratings for that week.
Elsewhere in the Playboy interview, Phoenix talked about his upbringing in the controversial religious group Children of God. He was surprisingly casual about it, given that is was, you know, a cult.
"I think my parents thought they'd found a community that shared their ideals. Cults rarely advertise themselves as such," Phoenix said. "It's usually someone saying, 'We're like-minded people. This is a community,' but I think the moment my parents realized there was something more to it, they got out."
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The Oscar winner also admitted to only once passing on a film and wishing he hadn't: "There’s only one movie I regret saying no to—except the person who ended up doing it was so good and was absolutely meant to do it, so I don’t have any regrets." Phoenix declined to say which movie, though it's highly likely he's referring to the role in Brokeback Mountain that eventually went to Heath Ledger.
With three Academy Award nominations and a Grammy Award under his belt, it's probably pretty easy to not have a lot of professional regrets. Well perhaps except for that one time he thought there was a frog in his hair.
The December issue of Playboy arrives on newsstands on Friday.
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