Casey Affleck Admits the Joaquin Phoenix 'I'm Still Here' Documentary was Fake

Director Casey Affleck confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix's meltdown in I'm Still Here was in fact not a documentary but an elaborate performance. For two years Phoenix portrayed himself, both on and off screen, as a bearded, drugged-out aspiring rapper. This included his incoherent appearance on the Letterman Show in 2009. It was all an act, although Letterman was not in on it. The drugs, the hookers, even the home-movie sequence in the beginning of the film were all staged or played by actors.

I'm Still Here was released in theaters on September 10, 2010. It received some rather scathing reviews, including Roger Ebert, who said the film was "a sad and painful documentary that serves little useful purpose other than to pound another nail in the coffin." I wonder how many critics would change their review knowing that they got punked?

Here is the trailer for I'm Still Here. It's interesting watching it with the new light that it's all an elaborate act. Plus it's nice knowing that Joaquin Phoenix really is still here.