Joaquin Phoenix found pretending to quit acting to be a rapper "liberating".
The ‘Walk the Line’ star caused controversy with his bizarre behaviour in 2009 – including an appearance on David Letterman’s talk show in which he was monosyllabic and appeared edgy – but it was later revealed to be a hoax for spoof documentary ‘I’m Still Here’ and the 40-year-old actor enjoyed not having a "safety net" around him.
He said: "I’m under the impression that it was a liberating experience for me. Unlike when you’re acting and everyone is there to support you and you can do take after take, when I did those live music shows and the movie, the safety net wasn’t there. Or maybe the safety net was there, but it was old, worn, full of holes and probably going to collapse."
One particular scene during a shambolic gig saw Joaquin jump into the audience and brawl with a crowd member, an experience he found both "scary and great".
Speaking to Playboy magazine, he said: "When you’re dealing with a thousand people in a club and you’re doing a fake fight everyone thinks is real except you and the guy you’re fighting with, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and the outcome was very unclear. That was scary and also a great experience.
"I said it was done to experience a change. I don’t really know what it did. Only time will tell."
After it was revealed his behaviour was a hoax, Joaquin returned to the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ to apologise, but fans still speculated the veteran broadcaster was in on the joke – something the ‘Her’ star still denies.
He insisted: "David Letterman was not in on the joke. 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.
Joaquin Phoenix: Hoax was liberating
