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.’”

Phoenix recalled the 2009 interview during an appearance on Late Show With Stephen Colbert, explaining why he decided to appear in-character for the interview with Letterman for the mockumentary he was promoting, I'm Still Here, which documented his life after the spoof announcement that he was retiring from acting to pursue a hip-hop career.