Oscar nominee JOAQUIN PHOENIX is so scared of flying he had to be held down by an aeroplane captain whilst on a turbulent flight.

Phoenix, who was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as COMMODUS in GLADIATOR (2000) at the Academy Awards last night (25MAR01), suffered a panic attack when he had the misfortune to find himself on a particularly bumpy flight recently - causing the captain to take emergency action.

Joaquin explains, "I was making everyone nervous. I was shaking my head back and forth, speaking in tongues, and hitting my head against the walls going, 'Oh my God!' "Then the captain came out and held me down - he told me to f***ing shut up and chill out!" (CPT/WNWDN

Source: WENN