Joaquin Phoenix's Mushrooms Kick In On Red Carpet
At last night's AFI Fest premiere of hotly-buzzed about Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, star Joaquin Phoenix fielded scores of red carpet questions about his uncanny, 'yes-that's-him-playing- and-singing' transformation into the Man in Black. But with one AP reporter, Phoenix gets momentarily sidetracked:
Out of the blue, Phoenix suddenly changed the subject, asking, "Do I have a large frog in my hair?"
Reporter: No, no.Phoenix: "Something's crawling out of my scalp."
Reporter: No, you look great.
Phoenix: "No, but I feel it. I'm not worried about the looks. I'm worried about the sensation of my brain being eaten. ... What did you ask me?"
It's refreshing to know that for a Hollywood 'It'-boy, the threat of a giant brain-eating-frog crawling out of one's scalp is not so much cause for cosmetic concern, but rather a genuine distress that the mutant amphibian may eat the part of his cerebrum responsible for any one of his many talents. It's artistic commitment like this that separates the Oscar-haves from the frog-eaten Oscar-have-nots.
