Unsurprisingly, when Joaquin Phoenix appeared before press on Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival for the “Joker: Folie a Deux” premiere, he was asked about his abrupt exit from Todd Haynes’ gay romance. Perhaps also unsurprisingly, Phoenix declined to answer.
Phoenix was asked to share why he dropped out of the movie, but he said an answer wouldn’t be fair without the other creatives present to provide their points of view on the matter.
“If I do I would just be sharing my opinion, my perspective, and the other creatives aren’t here to say their peace and it just doesn’t feel like that would be right. I’m not sure how that would be helpful. So I don’t think I will.”
The actor dropped out of the untitled film five days before production was due to begin, reportedly due to getting cold feet over the explicit sexual content in the movie. To make matters more confusing, he originated the project himself and pitched it to Haynes as an NC-17 gay love story. His exit suspended the project indefinitely and it’s unclear if it’ll happen.
Producer Christine Vachon aired her frustrations over Phoenix’s exit on Facebook in the days following his departure.
“It has been a nightmare. If I haven’t been in touch or returned your call — this is why,” she wrote. “And PLEASE — if you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ – DON’T. This was HIS project that he brought to US — and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (And for those of you who HAVE – know that you are making a terrible situation even worse.)”
Phoenix is currently about to begin promotion for “Joker: Folie a Deux,” a musical sequel to 2019’s “Joker” for which he won the Best Actor Oscar.