It's pure anxiety and I love it: Joaquin Phoenix on stupidity, worrying and reforming his life

The mysterious 'Joker' star doesn't open up about his life much, but he revealed a car-crash changed him immensely

Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix recently revealed that a horrific car crash actually changed his life for good.

In an interview with GQ Magazine Britain, the Joker star said he was losing control 15 years ago when he was drinking heavily and partying following the success of Walk the Line, where he played Johnny Cash.

"I wasn’t engaging with the world or myself in the way I wanted to," Phoenix said during the interview. "I was being an idiot, running around, drinking, trying to screw people, going to stupid clubs."

PHOTO: FILE

Then, one night, Phoenix flipped his car during a drive around Los Angeles and was waiting on the side of the road, by the wreckage, about to light a cigarette, when German filmmaker Werner Herzog intervened.

The actor checked into rehab after the director highlighted his reckless ways following a near-death car crash. “A German voice said, ‘Just relax’,” Phoenix recalled, explaining the director pointed out the car was leaking petrol and was seconds away from potentially lighting himself on fire.

Phoenix entered a treatment facility days later and now the star has no desire to drink like he used to, following the tragic death of his brother, River Phoenix, who was sent to an early grave because of drug overdose.

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“There’s too many things I enjoy doing and I don’t want to wake up feeling hungover,” Phoenix said. “It’s not a thing I fight against, it’s just the way I live my life.”

The star is now a vegan and also involves himself in social activism. Phoenix admitted that he worries more than most, but he sees that as  a bonus for his creativity.

PHOTO: FILE

"It's pure anxiety, and I love it," Phoenix said of his struggles. Yet, he leads a pretty quiet and simple life these days, according to a 60 Minutes special.

“What do I do?” Phoenix replied to American TV journalist Anderson Cooper. “I... I think I do normal things. I like to cook... I really don’t want to talk about what I do.”

In another interview, Phoenix went a little further, but not much. He watches a lot of documentaries. He likes to garden. He grows his own vegetables. But the star is not particularly 'LA active' either - none of the standard yoga or hiking in the hills.

PHOTO: FILE

Phoenix is not on social media. He has two dogs. He is engaged to the actress Rooney Mara, whom he met on the film Her and nervously looked up on the internet afterwards to get in touch, something he says he’s never done before. He was convinced she hated him.

The Gladiator actor wakes very early, sometimes as early as 4am. And, as a result, bedtime is sometimes when the sun goes down. Why? Well, that just is the mystery of Phoenix because he rarely reveals to any publication. “I like to get up and do all the stuff I’m not going to tell you about. I get so excited about it,” he simply said previously.

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