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Phoenix has confirmed that his performance in the drama, which co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, will be his last as he embarks on a new career as a rapper.
Speaking to ABC News, Gray admitted that the actor may have been influenced by a scene in Lovers that required him to perform an awkward, freestyle rap.
"That rap thing... in the movie actually comes from something I played for him," he said. "I had an obsession with doing that sort of thing as a teenager.
"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, 'Okay'.
"And now I'm seeing him do this thing, and I feel like I've ruined Joaquin Phoenix for the world. I don't want to be the guy that destroyed Joaquin Phoenix's acting career."
Several reports have suggested that Phoenix's rebirth as a rapper is a hoax, but he has insisted that he is entirely serious in his decision to switch careers.
Two Lovers opens in the UK on March 27.
> Phoenix stuns viewers with bizarre behaviour
