Hollywood actor Joaquin Phoenix has ended his acting career in order to follow his dreams of becoming a musician.

Phoenix, whose appearance in Gladiator and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line earned him two Oscar nominations, made his surprise announcement on American celebrity TV show Extra.

After performing alongside Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts on the programme, Phoenix told the show's presenter that who would no longer be doing films.

“I want to take this opportunity ... also to give you the exclusive and just talk a little bit about the fact that this will be my last performance as an actor," he said.

Phoenix confirmed existing reports that he has been working on material alongside Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess.

Earlier this year, Burgess hinted at the collaboration but said the actor kept “scrapping everything or redoing everything” the pair were working on.

Phoenix has stood down from his acting career twice before, although never with such a definite ending.

(by Jason Gregory)