A lot of people around Hollywood are saying Joaquin Phoenix’s performance art project or whatever you wanna call it is sabotaging Two Lovers, the movie he’s supposed to be promoting.  But guess what, it’s a rom-com with Joaquin and Gwyneth Paltrow, no one wants to see that shit anyway.  For his part, Lovers director James Gray doesn’t know what to make of it either.

“If it is an act, it’s the most committed act I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Now, Gray wonders if he’s responsible for Phoenix’s decision to quit acting and take up rapping. Two Lovers features an awkward freestyle rap performance by Joaquin, and Gray believes the actor is imitating him. “I had an obsession with doing that sort of thing as a teenager. It turns out that Joaquin is imitating me in a lot of the movie. He said, ‘I want to do that, I want to steal from that, I want to do the rap that you used to do.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And now I’m seeing him do this thing, and I feel like I’ve ruined Joaquin Phoenix for the world. I don’t want to be the guy that destroyed Joaquin Phoenix’s acting career.” [DeadlineHollywoodDaily]

I wouldn’t beat yourself up.  Joaquin was a good actor, but for the time being at least, guy who pretends to be on drugs and sticks gum under Letterman’s desk is about 1000 times more entertaining than guy who talks about why his character fell in love with Gwyneth Paltrow.  And yet, not quite as entertaining as guy who gets hit in the nuts with food.  Something to ponder.