If Joaquin Phoenix is acting like being a junkie for a documentary, he deserves an Oscar for his performance. He appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in a very puzzling, troubling interview.  He mumbled answers and seemed out of it.  And his friend Casey Affleck is supposed to be filming this for a documentary, but later said it was an act.  Is it?

More pictures after the mumbling….

From the Chicago Tribune:

How bizarre was Phoenix? At the end of the interview, David Letterman said, “We owe an apology to Farrah Fawcett.” Because by comparison to the bearded actor, her wacky appearance a few years ago now seems relatively sane. (Verne Gay has a side-by-side comparison of Fawcett vs. Joaquin. And just for fun, Herc has video of the infamous incident with Crispin Glover, who may still rank as the all-time weirdest Letterman guest.)

Of course, Letterman being Letterman, he gave the uncooperative Phoenix no breaks, and who can blame him? If a star comes on to your show to promote his or her movie, but instead speaks incoherently and sticks a piece of chewing gum on your desk, well, that’s not going to get a favorable reception from Dave.

“What can you tell us about your days with the Unabomber?” Letterman said at one point.

I feel sorry for Joaquin for the part that seems insecure.  But why is his agent putting him on the media rounds?   His music isn’t for sale yet, so why is he promoting himself on the circuit?  Is this all a big stunt?  Something just smells fishy about it.