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That's what Entertainment Weekly is reporting. Sources tell the magazine's Hollywood Insider blog that Phoenix's bizarre career change, which Casey Affleck (who's married to Phoenix's sister Summer) has been filming, is a joke at the expense of the entertainment media and actors who take themselves too seriously.
"He said, 'It's a put-on. I'm going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it,'" says one source who recently worked with Phoenix.
Like Andy Kaufman before him – or maybe even Sacha Baron Cohen – Phoenix isn't expected to break character anytime soon, EW reports: "It's an art project for him," says a source. "He's going full out. He probably has told his reps that he's quit acting. Joaquin is very smart."
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