Joaquin Phoenix would ''like'' to have children.

The 'Inherent Vice' actor - who recently claimed he was engaged to his yoga instructor but then said he was joking - wants to raise a family someday but admits he isn't very good at planning too far into the future.

Asked if he wants to have children, he said: ''I like the thought of it, but there are no concrete plans so far. Honestly, I haven't even planned the next three months so far.''

The 40-year-old star - who plays a hippy private detective the new 1970s California-set comedy drama - moved to the state with his family around the same time but insists his upbringing was very different to the lifestyle depicted in the movie.

He told the March issue of Germany's Glamour magazine: ''I was four or five years old, when my family moved to California at the end of the seventies. But it was pretty average at my home, no drugs or freethinking freaks like in the movie. My mother worked as a secretary at NBC - the total opposite of this hippy lifestyle.''

Joaquin added that while he believes smoking cannabis is still fairly common in the west coast state, he steers clear of drugs and prefers to focus on his career.

He said: ''In California smoking a joint after work is just as normal as having a glass of wine. But my drug is acting.''