He appeared in character for his Casey Affleck-helmed mockumentary 'I'm Still Here', which saw Phoenix quitting acting to pursue a hip-hop career.

On Tuesday night, the star said that he originally did the pre-interview in character and “I realized that it was just a little silly, so I called them back and I said, ‘Listen, this is what I’m doing. I’m coming out here and I’m doing this whole thing.’”