Joaquin Phoenix Sidesteps Question About His Abrupt Exit From Gay Drama Film

Joaquin Phoenix won’t be discussing his recent controversy without the affected parties.

The Oscar winner, who made headlines last month for exiting a gay drama movie just days before director Todd Haynes was set to begin filming, addressed the matter publicly for the first time during a press conference on Wednesday.

“I would just be sharing my opinion from my perspective and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece, and it just doesn’t feel like that would be right,” he said at the Venice International Film Festival.

“I’m not sure how that would be helpful. So, I just, I don’t think I will.”

Joaquin was in the middle of a press conference for Joker: Folie À Deux at the time and, flanked by director Todd Phillips and co-star Lady Gaga, shared some engrossing details about his preparation for reprising his role as the Joker in the new sequel.

Social media users are nonetheless still curious about Joaquin’s sudden departure from the unnamed Todd Haynes film, billed as a same-sex romance between a corrupt cop and a Native American who flee 1930s Los Angeles and head to Mexico.

Danny Ramirez, who appeared in 2022′s Top Gun: Maverick, had been cast as Joaquin’s love interest, and crews had reportedly already been hired in Guadalajara. But with no apparent plans to recast the Joker star’s role, the project has indefinitely stalled.

A representative for Todd Haynes told Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday that the director “will not be able to comment” on Joaquin’s remarks in Italy. However, producer Christine Vachon issued a blunt reaction to his abrupt departure in August.

“It has been a nightmare,” Vachon reportedly said in a now-deleted Facebook post.

Vachon, whose company has produced all of Todd Haynes’ feature films, seemed particularly miffed at Joaquin Phoenix, saying the movie “was HIS project that he brought to US” before changing his mind. A source close to the film told Variety that Phoenix got “cold feet”.

The actor has acknowledged experiencing the jitters over his acting work before, saying last year that he was “terrified” about his role as Commodus in 2000′s Gladiator.

“I’d obviously been acting since I was a kid,” he said on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast at the time. “I’d never been a part of a major production. And when I arrived on set for Gladiator, honestly, I was so sick. I was shaking.”

Joaquin went on to receive an Oscar nomination for that performance, but wouldn’t win his first Academy Award until 2020 with his part in Joker, the predecessor to Folie À Deux.