Joaquin Phoenix needs to stop.

If you haven’t heard already, Phoenix is retiring from his acting career to become a hip hop musician (see earlier post).  Last night, he was on Letterman and the interview was bizarre.  Personally, I think that’s the point and it’s all joke.  It’s like some sort of ill-conceived combination between Andy Kaufman and Sasha Baron Cohen.  Phoenix and a close group of friends are probably the only ones who know about it and everyone who interviews him treats this character like it’s really Joaquin Phoenix.  Making the world your stage is symptomatic of something a little strange.  Even if it is all just a joke, in the end, who cares?  What’s funny about that?  We all know he’s a good actor already so what’s he really doing here?  When he finally reveals to everyone that it was a hoax all along, then what?  It’s just strange.  It gets a lot of attention because of how weird and scary it is.  Either way, is he on a ton of painkillers or what?  Heroin?  Crack?  Yikes.
Here are some other bizarre interviews on Letterman:

Crispin Glover on David Letterman (7/28/87)

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Brother Theodore on David Letterman (1984)

(here’s another amazing interview with Brother Theodore.  And another)

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Richard Simmons on David Letterman (who cares when)