Joaquin Phoenix has a number of highly revistable and inarguably classic talk show moments, all of which are worth a view or three at some point this week in celebration of Joker's arrival. Tuesday night, Phoenix added to that collection with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Early into their discussion, Phoenix was once again asked about the process of losing weight for the role, noting that restricting one's eating forces you to realize just how much we rely on things like food and drink in social settings.
"You don't socialize at all," he said. "You don't know realize that, like, food and drink is what all of our social activity revolves around. So, if you don't have that, you go 'What the fuck am I doing? I have to talk?' You don't wanna talk to somebody. That's the worst."
Phoenix also mentioned the discussions his family ended up having after catching Joker at its recent premiere.
"Afterwards, we went back to my place and my sisters got into a heated discussion about what the movie was about, what it meant, what was real and what wasn't," he said. "It was fun to watch that. I think they were really engaged in a way that they haven't been with other movies of mine."
Toward the end of the interview, Kimmel and Phoenix delivered an apparent bit centered on the premise that the host had been given an "outtake reel" by director Todd Phillips. For Kimmel's part, he acted as though he and his team had selected one portion of that reel to share with the audience, with Phoenix acting surprised that this was being revealed to anyone at all. As for the clip itself, it showed Phoenix seemingly frustrated by the Cher-related actions of a director of photography named Larry, which may or may not be a reference to actual Joker DP Lawrence Sher. After the alleged blooper aired, Phoenix’s representative confirmed with the The Wrap that it was in fact a joke created specifically for his appearance on Kimmel.
Catch the full thing above. Joker is out Friday.
