Joaquin Phoenix Opens Up on Why He Took on The Role of The Joker Saying it Scares the Sh*t Out of Him
It was recently announced that DC's Joker origin movie was officially moving forward with Joaquin Phoenix in the role of the classic villain. This news came after the actor himself denied rumors and played coy. Now in a recent interview with Collider, Phoenix opened up for the first time about why he is excited to take on the role and says that it scares the fucking shit out of him.
"I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I’m gonna work on, always. So, in some ways, the process, which is obviously reading a script and meeting a filmmaker and then continuing to have meetings and discussions with Todd [Phillips]. I think he’s very impressive and he seems to have a very interesting understanding of this world and what he’s trying to say. And so there is something very appealing about that and working with him on this particular project. It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the fucking shit out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most."
Phoenix is a hell of a great actor and he is very picky with the projects that he involves himself with, so this Joker origin film obviously impressed the hell out of him. I guess if he's going to be a part of any comic book movie, this would be the one. Marvel wanted him to play Doctor Strange at one point, but things ended up not working out with that. When previously talking about the Marvel films, Phoenix told Little White Lies:
"I think they make some great, fun movies. There’s nothing wrong… I’m not a fucking, like, cinephile. I’m not a snob and I’m totally fine with… I enjoy those movies sometimes, and I think they keep the fuckingindustry going in some ways, so I don’t have a problem with it at all. I think that everybody was, is… I’m trying to figure out how to say this most diplomatically, okay… I think everybody was really happy with how things turned out. All parties were satisfied."
The studio has described the story for the Joker film as being an "exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale." The film is also said to be going against the grain of most comic book movies and that it's "meant to be different from other comic book superhero movies."
It's great to hear that Phoenix is excited about playing the Joker. I can't wait to see how he'll end up portraying the character and how it will compare to all the other actors who have played him over the years.