Joaquin Phoenix Won't Lose Weight For Roles Again

Joaquin Phoenix won't lose weight for a movie role again.

The 49-year-old actor famously shed 52lbs to play Arthur Fleck in 2020 movie 'The Joker', saying at the time he ate mainly lettuce and steamed vegetables, and while he didn't want to dwell on his diet while making upcoming sequel 'Joker: Folie à Deux’, he admitted it was "more difficult" to manage this time around.

Speaking at a press conference for the movie at the Venice Film Festival, Variety reports he said: “I’m not going to talk through specifics of the diet, because I just think nobody wants to hear that.

"But this time, it felt a bit more complicated just because there was so much dance rehearsal that we were doing, which I didn’t have last time.

"So it felt a bit more difficult, but it is safe.

"But you’re right, I’m now 49, I probably shouldn’t do this again. This is probably it for me.”

After the 'Joker' press tour, Joaquin was "sick of [himself]" and "angry" that he'd discussed his weight loss because it was just part of his job but he felt like he'd made too much of a "big deal" of it, so won't be drawn into such discussions this time.

Asked how much weight he lost this time round, he said: "I know I was responsible last time for talking about it, but it’s difficult to do so that becomes your obsession because you’re working the entire time to get to a certain weight.

“So then you end up talking about it, and then it just sounds like an actor going on and on about how much weight they lost.

"By the end of that run I was so sick of myself and angry at myself for making such a big deal about that part, because you just do what you’re fucking supposed to do. So this time I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.'”

He then whispered into the mic: “It was 47 pounds... No, I’m joking. I don’t know."