James Gray is a nice, unimposing director of films like Little Odessa, The Yards, We Own the Night, and the soon-to-be-filmed Brad Pitt movie, The Lost City of Z. His latest film is Two Lovers, the quiet little drama starring Gwyneth “GOOP” Paltrow and Joaquin “Unabomber Hobo Rapper” Phoenix. James Gray is sort of terrified that he’s the one who pushed Joaquin over the edge.

Gray was giving an interview to ABC News Radio, and of course the talk turned to Joaquin’s general craziness. Is it for real? Is Joaquin doing performance art? Gray’s answer was to take the blame. Gray says that for the film, Phoenix was copying or “stealing” bits and pieces from Gray’s life and mannerisms. Gray was even an amateur rapper, and Phoenix copies Gray’s act in the film. Radar Online has more:

James Gray, the director of Joaquin Phoenix’s so-called last film Two Lovers is as confused about Phoenix’s decision to retire from film to become a hip-hop singer as everyone seems to be.

“If it is an act, it’s the most committed act I’ve ever seen in my life,” Gray tells ABC News Radio.

Now, Gray is questioning his role in Phoenix’s new direction.

“Two Lovers” features a bad freestyle rap performance by Phoenix, eerily similar to his disastrous real-life rap debut. Gray revealed to ABC Radio that Phoenix was imitating him for that scene. Gray had played some of his youthful rap stuff for the actor.

“It turns out that Joaquin is imitating me in a lot of the movie. He said, ‘I want to do that, I want to steal from that, I want to do the rap that you used to do.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And now I’m seeing him do this thing, and I feel like I’ve ruined Joaquin Phoenix for the world.”

[From Radar Online]

I feel bad for this guy. I doubt Gray is at fault for whatever Joaquin is doing, and at this point, I’ve stopped feeling bad for Joaquin. I don’t think he’s crazy, I think he’s acting crazy. I don’t think he really wants to be a rapper, he wants to do some sort of “Oh isn’t the cognitive dissonance of this so SO funny when I rap” crap. At some point, I hope someone points out to Joaquin just how big of a jackass he is, and that we’d all like to say “Bye Good” to the bad Joaquin.

Here’s Joaquin Phoenix at the Cinema Society and Salvatore Ferragamo screening of ‘Two Lovers’ at the Landmark Sunshine in New York on Tuesday. Images thanks to WENN.