Joaquin Phoenix may be giving into the pressures of the Academy, or he may genuinely mean it when he says that he regrets saying that he hated the Oscars. 
Joaquin Phoenix at an awards show
When he first spoke about the Oscars in Interview Magazine a couple of months ago, he said, ''I think it's total, utter bullshit and I don't want to be a part of it,'' he told Interview magazine. ''Pitting people against each other … it's the stupidest thing in the whole world''.
In a new interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Phoenix speaks up about his earlier comments and says, ''I didn't even know that I was in a position to do something that would cost me something,'' he says before getting serious. ''But I know that first of all, I wouldn't have the career that I have if it weren't for the Oscars. I haven't been in a lot of movies that have made a lot of money … And getting nominated for a movie has probably helped my career tremendously. But in some ways it's the antithesis of what you want to be as an actor. You're always trying to free yourself of the artifice, which is really difficult. Especially when you suck, like me.''
Still from 'The Master'
He adds that he wouldn’t mind if he were to get nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the ‘Master’ [which many Oscars predictors are guessing he will], saying, ''It's not like I f---ing hate the Oscars … It doesn't occupy my time to where I can build up hate. What I was reacting to was sometimes the reverence that we have about these things. I don't want to revere it.''
Joaquin Phoenix winning Golden Globe award
