Joaquin Phoenix softly smiles in a black suit with a loosened black necktie on a red carpet.

Joaquin Phoenix broke his silence on his quick split from Todd Haynes’ NC-17 gay romance film during a Venice Film Festival press conference.

The 49-year-old actor — who appeared alongside Lady Gaga and director Todd Phillips ahead of the Joker: Folie à Deux premiere — made headlines after exiting the project just five days before production started, leaving the cast, crew, and co-star Danny Ramirez hanging.

Further complicating the matter was the fact Phoenix initially brought the idea for the “sexually dangerous” LGBTQ+ film to Phillips. Now, insiders in Hollywood’s producing community call for “legal action to be brought” against him.

Still, if the Oscar winner worries about legal ramifications or feels remorse for leaving the project on ice, he isn’t showing it.

Phoenix gave a slow but evasive answer after a reporter asked if he wanted to comment on the controversy.

“If I do [address the exit], I’d just be sharing my opinion from my perspective, and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece,” he explained. “It just doesn’t feel like that would be right. I’m not sure how that would be helpful. So, I don’t think I will.”

Well, it sounds like we won’t get a straightforward answer soon.

Nevertheless, producers behind the untitled film (described as a love story between two men in 1930s LA forced to flee to Mexico) called the ordeal “a nightmare.”

Furthermore, a recent scoop from The Hollywood Reporter revealed that discussions have stalled around finding a replacement for Phoenix — although Pedro Pascal‘s name was mentioned — and Walk the Line star getting cold feet before a production is par for the course.

Apparently, Phoenix tried to drop out of 2021’s C’mon, C’mon, 2023’s Napoleon, and even the original Joker film in 2019.

That said, he’s on board to promote the upcoming Joker sequel. His presence at the Venice Film Festival and willingness to answer questions were surprising, considering the press frenzy after he dropped out of Haynes’ project.

Phoenix told reporters that he underwent an intense diet in preparation for portraying Arthur Fleck again, which “felt a bit more complicated just because there was so much dance rehearsal that we were doing.”

“I’m now 49. I probably shouldn’t do this again. This is probably it for me,” he admitted.

Nevertheless, his co-star Lady Gaga — who takes on Harley Quinn in the upcoming musical-adjacent thriller — praised his performance, which “set the bar extremely high.”

“I think sometimes when stories are told of people who are misunderstood by society, the actors and directors can show you something unknown to you,” she explained. “And with Joker, I felt I got to understand and see something I never understood before.”

Watch the Joker: Folie à Deux trailer, which hits theaters on October 4.

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