Joaquin Phoenix shocked the world when he dropped a whopping 52 pounds for 2019s Joker in a performance that won him an Oscar for Best Actor . Now, hes revealing why shedding the weight again for its sequel has been more challenging this time around.

Im not going to talk through specifics of the diet, because I just think nobody wants to hear that. But this time, it felt a bit more complicated, just because there was so much dance rehearsal that we were doing, which I didnt have last time, Phoenix said during a Venice Film Festival press conference on Wednesday, People reports.

So it felt a bit more difficult, but it is safe. But youre right, Im now 49, I probably shouldnt do this again, he added. This is probably it for me.

In 2020, the actor revealed he ate an extremely restrictive diet, supervised by a doctor, to achieve his gaunt-like appearance in Joker. To transform into the iconic antihero, Phoenix said at the time that he mostly ate lettuce and steamed green beans.

The Gladiator alum went on to share that his co-star Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) had to go through some physical changes of her own to play the Jokers villainous love interest, Harley Quinn.

Stefani also lost a lot of weight, he told reporters during the press conference.

I remember when I first met you in rehearsals and then you went away and when you came back, you lost a lot of weight. It was really impressive, he added, to Germanotta.