Last Tuesday, Dr. Sid Gottlieb, Dr. David Curtis and their students were pleasantly surprised when "Gladiator" and "Walk the Line" star Joaquin Phoenix walked into their Film and Literature class.

Phoenix told Gottlieb his purpose of sitting in was to study the actions and mannerisms of a college professor to inspire his performance in his upcoming film "Reservation Road".

Originally Phoenix's production company contacted SHU's publicity office about possibly doing some shooting for the film on campus followed by the idea that Phoenix be allowed to sit in and observe one day.

Sid's name got thrown around and he jumped on the opportunity of having a celebrity observe his teaching methods.

"Somehow my name got mentioned, and I of course was very excited about the prospect of him coming to a class," said Gottlieb, Professor of Media Studies and Digital Culture. "I had a chance to talk with Joaquin for about 15 minutes before the class and then a few minutes afterwards. He was very friendly, down-to-earth, and easy to talk with. I asked him if he was looking for anything special in the class and he said that we should just do what we normally do and he would sit in the back and watch."

Which is exactly what Phoenix did, he sat through a 90-minute discussion and didn't say a word. Most students didn't even know he was in the class because of his low-key persona and appearance.

"When I first saw Joaquin outside talking to Sid before class, he was wearing aviator glasses and sporting a beard, it seemed as if he was trying to disguise himself," said Brendan Mcauley, senior, Hicksville, N.Y.

Some students in the class questioned the unfamiliar face in the back of the room, but did not realize it was the same face of the character Johnny Cash until both Gottlieb and Curtis announced it over the class break.

"I didn't even recognize Joaquin, he was all scruffed out with his beard and long hair," said Jennifer Blake, senior, Rocky Point, N.J.

Although Joaquin told Sid that he grew his beard for the role he is playing, some students believed he was intentionally trying to hide his identity.

"Beforehand, they [Phoenix's production company] asked us to keep it very quiet, as Joaquin wished to remain unnoticed," said Funda Alp, director of communications.

The only information he released about his upcoming movie was that he will be playing a role of a college professor.

"He said that he dropped out of school and never went to college, so he thought it would be a good idea to visit a classroom to see what goes on," said Gottlieb.

After attending the Film and Lit course, Joaquin made his way over to see what a large lecture course was like at Yale University.

Gottlieb was flattered that Phoenix attended Curtis and his classroom, and wonders which course he got more inspiration out of, a smaller class at SHU or a large lecture course at Yale?

Either way, we'll have to look for his upcoming movie to see if any of his mannerisms depict our familiar professor's characteristics.