Joaquin Phoenix fame complaint

Dec 22, 2007, 13:30 GMT

Joaquin Phoenix - © Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos

Joaquin Phoenix wishes he wasn't famous.

The 'We Own the Night' star says he didn't really understand what he was getting himself into when he decided to be an actor and "pities" other celebrities who have to put up with more attention than he does.

He said: "I've been in the business since I was young but I was very naïve about fame. I didn't watch entertainment television shows and I didn't read entertainment magazines so I didn't really know what I was getting into as an actor.

"I think I have a fairly good level of fame, but truthfully I'd rather not have any. I pity some people who get really hounded."

The 33-year-old actor also revealed being banned from watching TV as a child contributed to his decision to become an actor.

He told Dazed and Confused magazine: "My parents allowed me and my siblings River, Rain, Summer and Liberty, to be inventive and I think that's why the four of us became actors.

"We didn't watch TV and there weren't really video games when I was growing up. I think that you're more inventive in a way without them and I think that was part of the attraction of acting. We used to put on plays and that kind of thing, where you just invent characters. So in some way my career is an extension of that."

Joaquin's brother River starred in a number of acclaimed films, including 'Stand By Me' and 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade', before he died from a drug overdose at the age of just 23.

(C) BANG Media International