If Joaquin Phoenix had known the success that his role in Joker would wring, you’d imagine he would have had fewer doubts about taking the part.
And yet, that was not the case.
“I mean honestly, it wasn’t an easy decision at first,” Phoenix said of taking the part while at the Toronto Film Festival. “I didn’t f**ing know. I didn’t. But then there was something that was drawing me toward it. It just evolved as we worked together. It started becoming something more than I anticipated. It was one of the greatest experiences of my career.”
Phoenix’s performance earned a 10-minute standing ovation from critics when the Todd Phillips film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is likely to put him in line for Oscar attention.
As for the future of Phoenix’s Joker, Phillips says there is no plan to connect him to the upcoming Batman franchise starring Robert Pattinson.
“Oddly, in the states, comic books are our Shakespeare it seems, and you can do many many versions of Hamlet,” Phillips said. “There will be many more Jokers, I’m sure, in the future.”
Phoenix’s Joker can be seen in theatres on October 4th.
