JOAQUIN PHOENIX has vowed never to joke in front of a journalist again, after one publication subsequently branded him a mad eccentric who keeps frogs on his head.
The GLADIATOR star, 31, was caught fiddling with his locks by a curious reporter and invented a quirky explanation.
But he now rues his prank after the deadpan humour was lost in the subsequent article.
He says, "I had a fly in my hair. I was brushing it away. Someone asked me what was wrong and I said something like, 'I have a frog on my head,' joking.
"Then I read that I said I had a frog in my hair. What am I supposed to do?"