Todd Phillips, the director of Joker, has revealed that Joaquin Phoenix would walk off set during scenes, baffling his fellow cast members.
Joaquin Phoenix is one of the most intense actors in Hollywood, taking his roles very seriously, throwing himself entirely to each character. This has kept up during his stint as Arthur in Joker, with his director revealing some interesting behavior.
In a recent interview the New York Times, Phillips revealed: “In the middle of the scene, he’ll just walk away and walk out. And the poor other actor thinks it’s them and it was never them — it was always him, and he just wasn’t feeling it.”
Adding some further context, co-star Robert De Niro said: “Joaquin was very intense in what he was doing, as it should be, as he should be. There’s nothing to talk about, personally, on the side, ‘Let’s have coffee.’ Let’s just do the stuff.”
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Joker here
Fans will get to see Phoenix in action for themselves when Joker arrives in cinemas next month.
Joker centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.
Joker is set for release on October 4th 2019 and stars Joaquin Phoenix (The Sisters Brothers), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Brett Cullen (Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Billions), Douglas Hodge (Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn), Shea Whigham (Kong: Skull Island), Douglas Hodge (Robin Hood) and Dante Pereira-Olson (You Were Never Really Here).
Originally published September 12, 2019. Updated December 7, 2022.
