10 Overly Committed Actors Who Took Their Parts Way Too Seriously

5. Joaquin Phoenix - I'm Still Here

Following on from his Oscar win for Walk the Line it seemed as if Joaquin Phoenix had gone a bit Shia LaBeouf on us - having announced his intention to drop out of acting altogether and move into hip-hop, his apparent move into the music industry was accompanied by some increasingly strange behaviour in interviews, not to mention an ever-growing wild beard which covered his face. And then I'm Still Here hit the cinemas, an apparent "documentary" directed by Phoenix's brother-in-law Casey Affleck which charted his bizarre trajectory into the music world, replete with hookers and drugs as he appeared to decline into vacuous, ego-driven celebrity. Except it was all a charade - a convoluted act which had virtually no resemblance to the truth. Taking the concept of Method acting to the extreme, I'm Still Here is as much a masterclass in acting as it is a mockumentary concerning the vagaries of stardom. Phoenix's incredibly elaborate hoax was met with a mixed reception from the critics, but few could argue how impressive such audacity at maintaining such a huge lie really was, and Phoenix has since gone on to consolidate his status as one of the finest actors of his generation.