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Joaquin Phoenix Quits Acting to Pursue Music

by Jarrett Martineau | October 29, 2008 at 08:02 am

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At the young age of 34, Joaquin Phoenix has announced that he plans to retire from acting and making movies in order to pursue a career in music.

That is, if celebrity retirements are to be believed.

Who knows if he'll truly be out of the movie biz for long; Phoenix is an immensely talented actor, and it's anyone's guess how he'll fare making music.

Many actors have tried it — very few with real success.

Joaquin Phoenix dropped quite a shocker at a benefit for Paul Newman's camps for kids Monday, announcing his plans to quit acting.

"I want to take this opportunity ... to give you the exclusive and just talk a little bit about the fact that this will be my last performance as an actor," the two-time Oscar nominee told Extra at the San Francisco event. "I'm not doing films anymore."

"Are you serious?" asked the stunned interviewer Jerry Penacoli.

"Yeah. I'm working on my music," Phoenix insisted. "I'm done. I've been through that."

His rep confirmed the retirement to Extra.

The 34-year-old performer gave no further details on his career plans – but he has been working on a record for some time British band The Charlatans.

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Patrick ten Brink (not verified)

at 03:13 on October 30th, 2008

Let us hope that he's like tennis ace Jannick Noah turned music star and delights the world in many ways. He has the talent....though I suspect he'll be back on the screens. The pull will be difficult to resist! P