Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming

M. Night Shyamalan's 2016 thriller Split was supposed to star Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, but the actor dropped out just two weeks before filming was due to begin. James McAvoy, who took over for Phoenix, discussed this unusual development in a recent interview.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy said Phoenix is an "amazing actor," and he would have played the character differently from the Scottish actor. Split tells the story of a man (McAvoy) who has 23 different personalities, so anyone could understand how preparation sounds like it might be critical to playing the role well. But McAvoy said coming in so late in the process was something of a relief because he couldn't over-prepare.

"I think he'd give a very different performance to the one I did. But I think he'd give an incredible performance. Sometimes coming in last minute is the best way," he said. "I think he ditched it like two weeks before they started shooting. It was really last minute. I had two weeks [to prepare]."

Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming

Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming

Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming

Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming

Joaquin Phoenix Dropped Out Of M. Night Shylaman's Split Just 2 Weeks Before Filming