Joaquin Phoenix, who recently turned 34, has revealed plans to retire from acting. The shocking announcement came on the red carpet of an Association of Hole in the Wall Camps benefit, a charity founded by Paul Newman to Extra!’s Jerry Penacoli. The acclaimed actor who has starred in blockbusters like Gladiator (2000), Walk the Line (2005) said the following concerning his career and his upcoming film Two Lovers:

“This [Two Lovers] will be my last performance as an actor. I’m not doing films anymore… I’ve been through that. I’ve done it… I’m dead serious.”

How will Phoenix now occupy his time?  Apparently his role as seminal musician Johnny Cash in Walk the Line sparked his interest in pursuing a music career.  According to Billboard, he is already working on an album with Tim Burgess, frontman for the UK group The Charlatans.  Burgess notes, “Once he learnt guitar he found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself that he wanted to expel through music.”