Casey Affleck Confesses Joaquin Phoenix Documentary a Spoof

(HMG Celebrity News) – In case anyone really bought this act which I doubt, the much-hyped new documentary, ‘I’m Still Here,’ which follows a supposed self-imploding Joaquin Phoenix as he tries to break into hip-hop, isn’t real. Phoenix played the bearded drugged-out crazed shambolic hip-hop role on- and off-screen for over two years, including an infamous appearance on the ‘Late Show With Dave Letterman’ in 2009 when he seemed confused and mumbled his way through the interview, leaving the host who was not in on the game, bewildered by the actor’s behavior. Casey Affleck who’s married to Phoenix’s sister Summer, admitted in a Thursday New York Times article that “I never intended to trick anybody. “The idea of a quote, hoax, unquote, never entered my mind.”

In a series of emails that followed the Thursday interview, Affleck, said, most important, that he admires Phoenix for having spent so much time working through a performance that seemed to undercut his public standing.

“His performance is compelling, always watchable, manages to be repulsive and charming, believable in all emotions, completely committed, incredibly brave,” wrote Mr. Affleck. It must have been “tedious” for Mr. Phoenix, he said. “How difficult to resist the cheap joke, the wink, the nudge.” But, he added: “He has the tools for this. He has the goods in spades.”

Phoenix is due to return to “The Late Show with David Letterman” next week — and Affleck said this time he would not be in character.