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Joaquin Phoenix regrets his infamous David Letterman interview: ‘It was horrible and uncomfortable’
In 2009, Joaquin Phoenix appeared on David Letterman's show in character when he was filming a mockumentary titled I'm Still Here with Casey Affleck.
After 16 years, Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix is looking back on his infamous February 2009 interview with David Letterman on The Late Show, calling it the worst night of his life.
Joaquin Phoenix explains
Joaquin, who is currently promoting his new movie Eddington, appeared on an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During his appearance, he along with the host looked back at the awkward live television moment after Stephen mentioned that Joaquin had not appeared on the program in 15 years.
Looking back, Joaquin said, “Yeah, it was strange, because in some ways it was a success and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life… When I came on this show with Dave, I originally did the pre-interview in character and I realised that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, ‘Listen, this is what I’m doing. I’m coming out here and I’m doing this whole thing. And I just want Dave to like, lacerate me. I just want it to be really dangerous'. That was the kind of intention.”
The Joker actor admitted that the interview itself was “horrible”, mentioning, “It was so uncomfortable. I regret it, I’ll never do it again. I’m so sorry.”
After the two shared a laugh, following which Stephen told Joaquin that he doesn’t know if David Letterman is watching the show. “He might be and I just need to say, I’m sorry,” Joaquin responded.
More about the infamous 2009 interview
In 2009, Joaquin appeared on the David Letterman's show in character when he was filming a mockumentary titled I'm Still Here with Casey Affleck. At the time, Joaquin had announced publicly that he was retiring from acting and transitioning to a hip-hop music career in service of making the documentary.
During the appearance, he was wearing sunglasses and sporting a large beard. He mumbled his way through the conversation and was mostly unresponsive to David Letterman's questions. He seemed uninterested in the conversation. Towards the end of the appearance, Joaquin took out a piece of gum from his mouth and stuck it on the host's desk. The interview, some of which was used in the film, was awkward and led the people to believe that Joaquin was having a mental breakdown.
