10 Actors Who Went Too Far On Set
3. Joaquin Phoenix - I’m Still Here
Joaquin Phoenix's extended publicity stunt for his 2010 mockumentary I'm Still Here is an example of what can happen when method acting goes wrong. The Gladiator star remained in character for the duration of the film's production and duped the world into thinking he'd abandoned acting to pursue a career as a weirdy, beardy rapper.
He essentially lived out the plot of the film and did numerous interviews in character, but nobody seemed to get the joke, instead assuming Phoenix was having some kind of midlife crisis. When it finally emerged that the whole thing was for a movie he was making with brother-in-law Casey Affleck, they didn't change their minds on that.
It took Phoenix a good while to repair his reputation following that ill-advised exercise in misdirection, although he continues to be drawn to parts involving peculiar characters. One can only wonder what insane lengths he will go to for his latest role as the Joker in the Batman villain's solo debut.