"Why would you…?"— When Joaquin Phoenix walked out of an interview because of this controversial question

Joaquin Phoenix is an artist who has left a lasting impression on the craft of acting. Be it the scheming Roman emperor in Gladiator or a brooding man contemplating the fundamental questions pertaining to love and life in Her, Phoenix’s diverse roles speak of his range and finesse.

His oeuvre has brought him many laurels. The recipient of an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, Phoenix was named one of the 25 best actors of the 21st century so far in a report published by The New York Times on November 25, 2020.

Phoenix is especially adept at playing dark, pensive characters who hover in the limbo between the strict categories of ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ His titular role in the 2019 film Joker earned him several coveted awards. However, the film also divided the critics and viewers alike.

While Joaquin Phoenix’s performance itself was showered with unanimous praise, the narrative was accused of sympathizing with and glorifying an evil character; quite a few people felt that the lawlessness and chaos inspired by the Joker in the film could in fact unwittingly inspire real-life violence.

However, the Inherent Vice star hardly found it pleasant when this particular concern was broached to him during an interview with The Telegraph, published on February 10, 2020.

Film critic Robbie Collin asked Joaquin Phoenix if the actor was worried that Joker ‘might perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results.’ Phoenix said:

“Why? … Why would you…? No… no.”

Following this brief protestation, Phoenix walked out of the interview. He would not return to finish it before an hour, during which time he was consulting with a Warner Bros PR. After returning, Joaquin Phoenix explained that he had panicked upon hearing the question since it ‘genuinely hadn’t crossed his mind before.’

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Joaquin Phoenix took up the project because the role presented ‘a challenge’

The actor was approached by Marvel in 2014 for the lead role in Doctor Strange. However, Phoenix eventually declined the offer, and the character was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Thus, his decision to star as a comic book character in Joker came as a surprise to many. However, as Joaquin Phoenix himself explained in the The Telegraph interview, Joker was not a conventional superhero character; he posed ‘questions with no easy answers.’

"Typically, the motivations of characters in most movies, certainly in the superhero genre, are very clear. And that wasn’t the case in this, and to me, that was a challenge. There was something there to explore that I didn’t fully understand," Joaquin Phoenix said.

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Joker has been embroiled in controversies since before its release

On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting erupted at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. In the wake of Joker’s release in 2019, family members of the victims signed a letter to Warner Bros., expressing their concerns about the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix-starrer and asking the studio to donate to groups that aided victims of gun violence.

The following is an excerpt from the letter, published by The Hollywood Reporter in a report dated September 24, 2019:

“We are calling on you to be a part of the growing chorus of corporate leaders who understand that they have a social responsibility to keep us all safe.”

Sandy Phillips, mother to a 24-year-old daughter, Jessica Ghawi, who was killed in the shooting, told The Hollywood Reporter the following:

“My worry is that one person who may be out there — and who knows if it is just one — who is on the edge, who is wanting to be a mass shooter, may be encouraged by this movie. And that terrifies me.”

As per a report published by IndieWire on September 24, 2019, a statement was issued from Warner Bros. in response to the letter that had been sent to them regarding Joker. In the statement, the studio stated that it was not the intention ‘of the film, the filmmakers, or the studio’ to hold the eponymous character ‘up as a hero.’

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