The actor - who stars in upcoming movie 'The Joker' - spoke out about how he doesn't want to hurt other living beings

Joaquin Phoenix has been vegan since he was three

Joaquin Phoenix has spoken out about animal agriculture - branding it 'absurd and barbaric'.

The actor - who stars in upcoming movie The Joker - made the comments in an interview with digital news video outlet Brut.

'Didn't want to support violence'

"I've been vegan since I was three years old, and at that age, me and my siblings witnessed fish being killed in a really violent and aggressive way and it was just absolutely obvious that that was something we didn't want to participate in and we didn't want to support," he said.

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"To me, it just seems obvious - I don't want to cause pain to another living empathetic creature. I don't want to take its babies away from it, I don't want to force it to be indoors and fattened up just to be slaughtered."

'Absurd and barbaric'

Phoenix added that these behaviors are 'absurd and barbaric', saying he 'doesn't how you could witness that and not be affected by it'.

"Certainly, also, the effect that it has on our environment is devastating," he added.

"So, for me, it's my life and has always been my life, and it's really one of the most important things to me."