Actor Joaquin Phoenix is Retiring from Movies at the Tender Age of 34

In 2005 Joaquin Phoenix played the legendary Johnny Cash in the movie Walk the Line. For his role Phoenix learned how to play the guitar. By doing so Phoenix found a new passion, one that has been brewing in him ever since. It is this passion that is apparently leading to the 34-year-old actor's retirement form the silver screen.

Phoenix has been involved in 25 movies since 1984, which include several blockbuster, hits such as Gladiator, Ladder 49 and Walk the Line (source: wikipedia.org). The two-time Oscar Nominee stunned the world and Extra correspondent Jerry Penacoli when he said, "This is my last performance as an actor....I've been through that. I've done it...I'm dead serious." The last performance he was referring to is his upcoming film called "Two Lovers" that will co-star Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. The film debuted earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival and has received many rave reviews. Ray Bennett of Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Phoenix plays the romantic lead with great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable." The film is set for regular release on February 13, 2009 (source: movies.yahoo.com).

So serious is Phoenix about his decision to peruse music that Billboard has confirmed the young superstar is working on an album with Tim Burgess who is the lead singer of the UK band The Charlatans. When asked about the decision, Burgess said, "Once he learned guitar, he found he had quite a lot of demons in him that he wanted to expel through music." As of now there is no word on when the album will be completed or released (source: movies.yahoo.com).

Joaquin who is the younger brother of the late River Phoenix did leave some hope for Phoenix fans. While at a charity event for his brother-in-law Casey Affleck, Phoenix was quoted as saying, "It's Summer's turn." Summer is Affleck's wife and the younger sister of Joaquin (source: movies.yahoo.com). Summer has appeared in such artistic films as Wasted, The Laramie Project, Esther Kahn, SLC Punk!, Dinner Rush and the Faculty (source: wikipedia.org).

Many will ponder whether Phoenix is making the right choice to abandon film making while he is seemingly at the peak of his career. But he apparently feels he has to follow his dream. Who knows, maybe Joaquin Phoenix will be just as great at making music as he was at making movies. Perhaps he will do what others have done in the past and attempt the crossover but come back if it doesn't work out. But whether it is a break or an actual full retirement, Hollywood is losing one of its current greats.