Joaquin Phoenix Still Regrets His Viral David Letterman Interview: It Was ‘Horrible’

Phoenix appeared on "The Late Show" in 2009 in character for his mockumentary “I’m Still Here,” calling it "one of the worst nights of my life."

More than a decade on, Joaquin Phoenix is still sorry for the cringe promotion of his mockumentary “I’m Still Here.” While in character (as a caricature of himself), Phoenix appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” for a 2009 interview, where he announced he was retiring from acting to start a hip hop career.

Phoenix recently returned to “The Late Show,” now hosted by Stephen Colbert, to promote his latest film “Eddington” — and also apologize once more for the “I’m Still Here” spoof. Phoenix said that he actually wanted Letterman to really lean into the bit, and have the talk show be a “dangerous” move for his real career. Hence, he kept the prank under wraps for audiences, but Letterman was well-aware of it.

“When I came on this show with Dave, I originally did the pre-interview in character and I realized that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, ‘Listen, this is what I’m doing. I’m coming out here and I’m doing this whole thing. And I just want Dave to like, lacerate me. I just want it to be really dangerous,’” Phoenix said. “That was the kind of intention — I just always wanted to get this reaction and see how I would respond to that. So it was beneficial for no one to know, except when needed.”

Phoenix continued that he couldn’t not be in character for the show, especially since the film was a meta commentary on fame and celebrity, with Phoenix’s onscreen alter ego being that of a downward-spiraling actor.

“We shot for over a year. I did not anticipate that,” he said of “I’m Still Here,” which was directed by his former brother-in-law Casey Affleck. “I thought it was going to be several weeks, maybe a couple of months, and what happened was, because I started out just doing it in my house, and then we started to go public.”

He added of the decision to continue it during the late night gig, “I was stuck, I had to keep it going,” even though it was a “horrible” bit. “It was so uncomfortable,” he said. “I regret it, I’ll never do it again. I’m so sorry. It was strange because in some ways, it was a success, and it was also just one of the worst nights of my life.”

Phoenix later apologized to Letterman in 2010. “I hope I didn’t offend you in any way,” he said at the time. “You’ve interviewed many, many people and I assumed that you would know the difference between a character and a real person, but I apologize.”