Joaquin Phoenix Exits Interview When Asked About Violence In “Joker” Film

Joaquin Phoenix’s role as Joker in the upcoming film has already debuted at Toronto’s Film Festival and will soon hit theatres globally on October 4th. Of course, Joaquin has been subject to lots of interviews and questions regarding his role but it was one question asked by The Telegraph that forced him to walk out.

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The publication called Phoenix’s character “an unstable, self-pitying loner with a mass-shooter mindset” probing the question: “Aren’t you worried that this film might perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results?”

“Why? Why would you…? No … no,” Phoenix said before he walked out. The publication details how Phoenix came back to finish the interview after an hour of  “peace-brokering” with a Warner Bros PR representative. When Phoenix reappeared, he admitted that he had never considered the question before. 

So far the film has been given rave reviews from critics with Jim Vejvoda from IGN pointing out the relation to the real world.

“While this realistic depiction makes a place that’s typically fantastical seem familiar, it’s not just the recognizable setting that gives Joker its hyper-realism; it’s what it’s allegorically about that makes the movie so believable, timely, and worth talking about long after the credits roll. Joker is a period piece but it is undeniably about our own troubled, relentlessly violent time.”