Though the early critical buzz for the upcoming comic book movie “Joker” has been generally positive, controversy has been swirling over whether or not the film will inspire lone-wolf nutcases to enact homicidal killing sprees. In a recent interview with Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin, actor Joaquin Phoenix was asked to address this controversy and he chose to walk out the interview instead.
In the interview, Collin asked Phoenix on whether or not he felt concern if the movie “might perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results.”
HuffPost reports that “Phoenix balked at the question.”
“Why? Why would you … ? No, no,” Phoenix said before eventually leaving the room.
Phoenix returned to finish the interview an hour later after negotiating with a Warner Bros. agent. Though he did not answer Collin’s question, Phoenix said that he panicked, arguing that the question blindsided him. The actor did, however, reflect on the film’s violence when speaking with SFX magazine in which he said he experienced no hesitation about depicting such “visceral and raw” violence. – READ MORE