Joaquin Phoenix has denied tabloid reports that he had a breakdown while filming a scene related to Cash's brother's death in "Walk the Line," the upcoming Johnny Cash biopic.

Phoenix banged his head on a bedpost during a scene in which Cash is going through drug withdrawal in an attempt to get into his character's emotional state. He was acting, not flipping out, he tells Newsweek magazine, now on newsstands.

His brother River Phoenix died of a drug overdose outside a Los Angeles nightclub in 1993 when he was 23. Cash also lost his older brother at a young age, but Phoenix sees no connection. "I don't need to pull from my experience for a character, and I've never understood why actors would, except for lack of ability, imagination or research," he says. "I had all three things, so this is a little frustrating to me, because it denies my work and the research that I did."

Phoenix continues: "It bothers me that this happens, because it's slightly exploitative. Suggesting that I would use this personal part of my life for a (expletive) movie ... it kind of makes me sick."

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