Joaquin Phoenix walks off interview over question on 'Joker' violence

Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix walked off an interview after he was asked whether the violence in "Joker" will encourage people to become violent. The actor later returned to complete the interview with The Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin but avoided the question.

Collin asked Phoenix if he worries "Joker" might "perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results." Phoenix said, "Why? Why would you…? No, no," and abruptly stood up and walked out of the interview.

According to The Telegraph, the actor spent about an hour speaking with a Warner Bros press agent before returning to complete the interview. Phoenix told Collin that he panicked because he did not consider the question.

In a New York Times profile of Phoenix earlier this month, director Todd Phillips also spoke about how the actor would walk out of the set in the middle of a scene. Phillips told NYT that the 44-year-old actor "lost his composure on the set, sometimes to the bafflement of his co-stars".

"In the middle of the scene, he''ll just walk away and walk out. And the poor other actor thinks it’s them and it was never them — it was always him, and he just wasn’t feeling it," Phillips said. The film is generating Oscar buzz for Phoenix.

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