Joaquin Phoenix, who is now confirmed to play the Joker in a solo DC movie, says that the film is “unique” and not like other movies in the genre.
After months of rumours and speculation, Joaquin Phoenix was finally confirmed to play the legendary villain the Joker in a solo movie directed by Todd Phillips. The film is going to head into production this year and Phoenix believes the movie will be truly “unique”.
Speaking about the project to Collider, the unpredictable actor finally opened up about the project: “I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre. I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more than anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that’s exciting.
“I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real-life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn’t, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that’s what Todd sees appealing about this idea.”
Phoenix also discussed how his interest in the project came about, stating that: “Three or four years ago, I called my agent and said ‘Why don’t they want to take one of these characters and just make a lower budget film about it, a movie but a character study, and why not take one of the villains?’ And I thought, ‘You can’t do the Joker, because, you know, it’s just you can’t do that character, it’s just been done.’ So I was trying to think of other characters, and he said ‘I’ll set up a general meeting with Warner Bros.’ And I said ‘I’m not gonna go, I can’t go to a general meeting.’ So I completely forgot about it, and so then I heard about this idea, I was like, ‘Oh that’s so exciting, that’s the kind of experience I wanted to have, with a movie based on a comic character.’ I felt like you could get something on screen.”
Are you excited to see Phoenix as the Joker? And do his comments make you more or less excited for the now officially announced film?
Originally published July 12, 2018. Updated July 13, 2018.
