Who knew being a famous Hollywood actor was such a crappy job?
I'll tell you who knew: Joaquin Phoenix.
He knew that the only avenue a talented white actor had to express himself ran through the mean streets of hip-hop. He's out to prove that (Marky) Mark Wahlberg had it ass-backwards: you become a respected Oscar-nominated actor and THEN throw it all away to become a hip-hop singer.
And after watching Phoenix on the ever-hip, never-hop David Letterman Late Show, he's going to succeed.
In the words of Yahoo OMG.com writer, Doug Larrimore, "rather than simply walking away from his career, he is instead trying to kill it." Not just kill it, but do it in a way that assures us that the next time we see Mr.Phoenix on screen, it'll be on one of those VH-1 reality shows that you tune into to see Once Upon a Timers who aren't top-of-the-mind anymore, desperately trying to suck the last of their 15 minutes from the teet of the Fame Goddess.
After his performance in Gladiator (I seem to be the only one who appreciated his genuinely creepy take on the character), I looked forward to seeing what he could do. He proved me right in Walk the Line. Unlike Jamie Fox in Ray, Phoenix sang AND played the guitar on screen, which he previously didn't know how to do (come on guys, Ray II with Fox letting loose for real). Phoenix got so into character, I went and downloaded everything I could find on Johnny Cash--and I HATE country music! But thanks to his performance and his brilliance, I am now a big Cash fan.
Once his supremely gifted brother River Phoenix tragically went down, you'd think he'd appreciate the spotlight he no longer needed to share. Had River lived, Joaquin would've been the Beau to River's Jeff Bridges. The Mike to River's Kevin Bacon.
But there is a bright spot in his new career choice: that J-Fee Nix/Flava Flav Duets album is looking more like a possibility everyday.
