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Actor Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Haynes have never shied away from controversial subject matter. jokerfor which Phoenix won an Oscar for Best Actor, was both praised and criticized for its portrayal of mental illness. Haynes’ May December was about an illicit relationship between an adult and a teenager. But whatever was planned for Haynes’ upcoming gay romance film was apparently too much to ask for Phoenix, 49, because he dropped out of the project five days before filming began.

According to an interview Haynes gave diversity The untitled film, which was announced last year, is a “love story between two men set in the 1930s and has explicit sexual content.” Haynes also said that the relationship between the two leads, to be played by Phoenix and Danny Ramirez, would “challenge” viewers. According to IndieWireThe film is a crime thriller about two gay men who flee to Mexico.

Many film fans are confused by Phoenix’s departure because, according to Haynes and producer Christine Vachon, Phoenix was the one who originally came up with the idea for the project. The crew was already assembled in Jalisco, Mexico, when Phoenix called from Los Angeles and said he would not continue. Producers, crew members and others involved in the film still have not been paid for their work, and sources have told Variety and IndieWire that it is unlikely Phoenix will be recast. Apparently, the film’s financing largely depended on Phoenix’s casting.

During the press conference for May DecemberHaynes had spoken about Phoenix’s enthusiasm for the boundary-pushing project and the actor’s “desire to break barriers and really explore the uncomfortable sides of this relationship. And yet it felt like a very organic process.” His decision to leave the relationship remains a mystery, although a source has hinted diversity that the actor simply got “cold feet” at the thought that it would be his first role as a gay man on screen.