Joaquin Phoenix rarely does interviews, but he sat down with Playboy recently to discuss his life and career. The conversation turned to his childhood in a so-called cult and Phoenix was surprisingly open about it.

While he was only a toddler, Phoenix and his family traveled through Central and South America with the Children of God group, which is often considered a cult. Fox News notes that, after his parents left the group, they changed their last names to Phoenix and his mother started a job at NBC. When the actor was six, he was signed by a talent agency.

Children of God is a highly controversial group, as ex-members have revealed stories of sexual abuse of young children and that married couples often trade partners. Phoenix’s family was with them in the 1970s and he explained that they left once they figured out it was more than just a religious group.

“As I understand it, you’re on the outside of that group until you’re accepted,” Phoenix explained to Playboy. “I don’t think we ever got to that point, because frankly, as it got closer, I think my parents went, ‘Wait a minute. This is more than a religious community. There’s something else going on here, and this doesn’t seem right.’ And so they left very early on.”

Phoenix said that his parents learned of the group through friends and decided that they wanted a religious experience. He again insisted that once they figured out that there was something more going on, they left.

“I think my parents thought they’d found a community that shared their ideals,” he explained. “Cults rarely advertise themselves as such. It’s usually someone saying, ‘We’re like-minded people. This is a community,’ but I think the moment my parents realized there was something more to it, they got out.”

Phoenix was last seen in Spike Jonze’s Her and reunited with Paul Thomas Anderson this year for Inherent Vice, which comes out next month. His next film is a dramatic Woody Allen movie. In the interview, he said that Allen isn’t like his characters.

“I liked working with him very much,” he said of Allen. “His writing is so good, and he understands the rhythm of a scene so well, it’s amazing to experience. You think of a scene and it seems all right, and then he’ll make a couple of small adjustments, and it’s like unclogging an artery.”

image courtesy of Nancy Rivera/ACE/INFphoto.com