Joaquin Phoenix has revealed he will not force his son to be vegan.
Despite that, the Oscar-winning actor admitted he "hopes" his son will become vegan nonetheless.
Aside from being one of Hollywood's biggest treasures, Phoenix, 46, is best known for being outspoken about veganism.
And when Joaquin welcomed his first child, a baby boy named River, in September 2020, questions were raised as to whether his son would take up a similar eating habit to him.
Well, the Joker actor has finally addressed the speculations, telling the Sunday Times in a rare interview about his 10-month-old son:
"Well, certainly I would hope that [he is vegan], but I’m not going to impose my belief on my child. I don’t think that’s right. I’m going to educate him about the reality.
"I’m not going to indoctrinate him with the idea that McDonald’s have a Happy Meal because there’s nothing f***ing happy about that meal.
"And I’m not going to tell him that it’s OK to read books about all the wonderful little farm animals, and they say ‘oink oink oink’ and ‘moo moo moo,’ and not tell him that that’s what a hamburger is.
"So I’m not going to perpetuate the lie, but I’m also not going to force him to be vegan. I’ll support him. That’s my plan."
Joaquin shares his young son with 36-year-old Carol star Rooney Mara. He was named after the actor's late brother, River Phoenix, who tragically died after a drug overdose aged 23 back in 1993.
Last year, Phoenix made his most impassioned speech on veganism as he accepted the Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards.
"We’ve become very disconnected [from] the natural world," he said as he accepted his first-ever gong at the Oscars.
The actor continued: "We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow.
"And when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable, and then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal."
