Director: 'I think I've ruined Phoenix'

Two Lovers director James Gray has confessed that he might be responsible for Joaquin Phoenix's decision to quit acting.

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