Joaquin Phoenix Debuts Half-Shaved Head on Red Carpet

Joaquin Phoenix surprised some fans this week when he walked the red carpet with a half-shaved head. The 46-year-old stepped out at the New York Film Festival on Tuesday with the middle of his head buzzed short, having kept the side pieces long and gray. He accentuated the casual look with an Animal Liberation Front hooded sweatshirt.

Later, he covered his head with a black beanie during a Q&A for his upcoming movie C'mon C'mon but fans immediately noticed his shaved head on the red carpet. In C'mon C'mon, Phoenix plays a radio journalist named Johnny who embarks on a cross-country trip with his young nephew, who is played by Woody Norman. Gaby Hoffman plays Johnny's sister, Viv, in the black and white film, which is set to be released on Nov. 19.

While Phoenix debuted his half-shaved head at the C'mon C'mon event, that is not the film responsible for the new cut. He completely shaved his entire head for his role in Disappointment Blvd. but has apparently grown it out at different lengths. Although not much is known about Disappointment Blvd., Phoenix stars in the comedy horror about "one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all tie," according to IMDB. Michael Gandolfini, who just appeared in the recently-released The Many Saints of Newark, is also set to appear in the project, as are Amy Ryan, Parker Posey, Nathan Lane and Patti LuPone.

Phoenix famously goes all-out for his movie roles, having lost 52 pounds to play Arthur Fleck in Joker. He told the Associated Press in 2019 that he developed a "disorder" from the major weight loss. "Once you reach the target weight, everything changes," he said at the time. "Like so much of what's difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over like 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop like a disorder. I mean, it's wild."