Joker star Joaquin Phoenix makes awkward Golden Globes press appearance after winning Best Actor: 'They f***ing tricked me'
Actor is notoriously reluctant when it comes to speaking to the press
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Your support makes all the difference.Joaquin Phoenix showed his signature lack of patience for the media after being “tricked” into coming to talk to the press after his Golden Globes win.
The Joker star, who won the Golden Globe for Lead Actor in a Drama for his performance in the DC villain origin story, struggled to answer certain questions that he felt he had already answered over the past six months.
“They f***ing tricked me,” he began, pointing to his PR team. “I’m not kidding.”
The first question did little to improve his mood, as a journalist asked how he approached the role of Joker.
“This is old news,” Phoenix responded, looking confused. “I feel like I’ve talked about this for six months… you want to hear a different version [of my answer]? Well, it was a long process…”
“The way I worked on this was, um, quite erratic,” he continued, conceding to the question. “I didn’t attack it linear-ly. I was most curious about the medications he [Joker] was taking and the side effects of those medications.”
Phoenix also revealed that he read a number of books about political assassins to prepare for the role, declining to say which because “they’ve had enough attention so I’d rather not mention them by name”.
He appeared to dislike the suggestion that people would assume a Joker sequel would be a cynical or predictable attempt to cash in on the original’s success: “I don’t think that I’ve ever done too many predictable things,” he said. “So if that came up it’s not because Todd (Phillips) or I are following some rule book. It’s because we feel inspired to explore the character more thoroughly. That’d be the only reason for me to do it.”
He then asked the crowd: “Have you guys been sitting here all night? Do they bring you food? Do you have drinks?”
Arguably Phoenix’s most animated comments were regarding the decision to serve vegan food at the ceremony.
“I’ve never been so proud to attend an awards ceremony as I am tonight,” he said.
Yet he sounded most upbeat when he received the signal from his publicist to wrap things up: “My publicist is telling me I need to go home,” he said. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
During his acceptance speech, Phoenix acknowledged he was a "pain in the ass" for many during filming for Joker.
See the full list of Golden Globe award-winners here.
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