LOS ANGELES: Actor Joaquin Phoenix says he doesn't like to rehearse and because of this habit he had a clash with 'Joker' co-star Robert De Niro, who prefers having a read-through while working on a film.
In a lengthy profile piece with GQ, Phoenix said the anxiety of not knowing helps him perform better and hence he was unwilling to join De Niro and rest of the cast for a read-through.
The 45-year-old actor, who won this year's best actor Oscar for his performance in the movie, revealed that De Niro even called director Todd Phillips to make sure he turns up.
"Tell him he's an actor and he's got to be there. I like to hear the whole movie and we're going to all get in a room and just read it," De Niro told Phillips.
Phoenix said he was adamant to give read-through a miss and told Phillips, "There's no f****** way I'm doing a read-through."
However, the actor, who is also a huge fan of DeNiro, attended the meeting at the veteran star's production office. He murmured his way through the script and after the meeting, De Niro invited him to his office to talk where the two eventually cleared the air.
The actor said De Niro took his face into his hands and kissed him on the cheek.
"It's going to be OK, bubbeleh," said De Niro, who played talk show host Murray Franklin in the film. Pheonix made a clean sweep winning all the major awards this year for his portrayal of DC supervillain.