Oscar-winning star Joaquin Phoenix checked into a rehab center after a near-death car crash as director Werner Herzog highlighted his reckless ways.
Phoenix said he drank heavily and he was partying post the success of the biopic “Walk The Line” 15 years ago, aceshowbiz.com reports.
“I wasn’t engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to. I was being an idiot, running around, drinking, trying to screw people, going to stupid clubs,” the “Joker” star quoted to GQ magazine.
Then, one night, he was about to light a cigarette after it crashed his car. This was when German filmmaker Herzog intervened.
“A German voice said, ‘Just relax’,” Phoenix said, remembering how the director pointed out that the car was leaking fuel, and he was seconds away from actually setting himself on fire.
Days later Phoenix entered a rehab center. Now, the actor claims, he has no need or desire to drink the way he used to.
“There are too many things I enjoy doing and I don’t want to wake up feeling hungover. It’s not a thing I fight against, it’s just the way I live my life.”
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Joaquin also revealed he suffered intense anxiety before a TV interview and once made Oscar-winner throw up backstage. According to aceshowbiz.com, the “Joker” star shared the experience with GQ magazine, adding that special he took steps so as to deal with his stress while working.
Phoenix said that when he starts working on new projects, he “always gets crippling anxiety for weeks until shooting begins,” and “feels physically sick” reports IANS.
Gray, who collaborated on several projects such as “We Own the Night” and “The Immigrant” with Phoenix, remembered once waiting backstage with him before a television interview, and he was so nervous that he puked.
He didn’t share what series the star would have appeared on. Phoenix said his nerves were coming up because “everything they teach you as a kid (about acting) is completely f**king wrong.”