Joaquin Phoenix has revealed that he could have played the Joker years before he did, starring opposite Christian Bale in The Dark Knight, which did not work out in the end. Phoenix led two Joker movies, with the first one breaking the $1 billion mark to become a major hit. However, Joker: Folie à Deux bombed at the box office, seeing mostly negative reviews from critics and the audience alike. Still, Phoenix delivers great performances as Arthur Fleck in both DC movies, and he almost did so years prior.
During an interview on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin, Joaquin Phoenix revealed that he had talks with Christopher Nolan to play the Joker in The Dark Knight.
According to Phoenix, Nolan came to him about the Batman villain, though the actor does not remember if the director was set on him playing the character. In the end, Phoenix explains that it did not work out because he was not ready for the Joker at the time. Heath Ledger would then become perhaps the best live-action Joker thanks to his performance in The Dark Knight, winning a posthumous Oscar for his role. Check out the full quote below:
“I remember I talked to Chris Nolan about The Dark Knight and that didn’t happen for whatever reason. I wasn’t ready then. That’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘What is in me that’s not doing this?’ And it’s not about me. There’s something else. There’s another person who is going to do something… I can’t imagine what it would be if we didn’t have Heath Ledger’s performance in that film, right?
I don’t know whether Christopher Nolan was coming to me saying, ‘You’re definitely the person.’ I can’t remember the context of how we met, but I know we met. My feeling was I shouldn’t do this, but maybe he also was like, ‘He’s not the guy.’”
The Batman Movie Could Have Looked Very Different
Phoenix does not remember whether Nolan had chosen him to play the Joker in The Dark Knight or if he thought the actor would be a good option among others. The main reveal is that Nolan and Phoenix did meet about the actor giving life to the villain opposite Christian Bale’s Batman. While Joker: Folie à Deux has failed to meet expectations set by 2019’s Joker, Phoenix delivers an acting masterclass in both films. His turn in 2019’s Joker won him several awards, including the Best Actor Oscar.
Related
The Batman Universe Is Setting Up The Joker Everyone Actually Wanted
While Joker: Folie à Deux was a major disappointment, The Batman – Part II has been set up to deliver the best possible Joker thanks to its spinoff.
Phoenix clearly had the talent to play a version of the Joker that was of a similar level to Heath Ledger’s. However, it is hard to imagine anyone other than Ledger in The Dark Knight. The actor played a realistic take on the Batman villain, but who was still accurate to the Joker from DC Comics in many ways. That Joker was very much a villain. Phoenix says that he was not ready to take on the role at the time, which could mean that he wanted the Arthur Fleck approach to the character and not the full-on Batman villain.
Heath Ledger was Perfect For The Batman Movie
While I believe Joaquin Phoenix could have given a great performance in the role, Heath Ledger’s casting as the Joker in The Dark Knight is one of the best ever for superhero adaptations. The actor stole every scene he was in, becoming the movie’s main draw over Bale’s Batman. By having Ledger take on the role, we ended up getting two exciting portrayals of the Joker. Phoenix made a compelling origin story for the character in 2019’s Joker, then turned in a solid performance in the film’s flawed sequel. In the end, Heath Ledger was made for The Dark Knight.
Upcoming DC Movie Releases
Source: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin