Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Unusual’ Preparation For Joker Role

Joaquin Phoenix’s upcoming Joker film piqued curiosity for most individuals with it’s first teaser trailer.  Coming off the heels of the Venice Film Festival, and the rave reviews that not only Phoenix, but the film as a whole received, many cannot wait for October 4 to get here!  Anyone who has seen the trailers has had to wonder what exactly Phoenix did to prepare for the performance.

This is an extremely touchy area as some feel that the method acting of Heath Ledger in his preparation for the role of Joker helped lead to his untimely death.  You also have Jared Leto whose method acting included sending his castmates extremely…interesting…gifts.  So how did Phoenix bring himself to portray a character such as Arthur Fleck who struggles with some form of mental illness which eventually transfers him into the Joker we know…or think we know?

In the video clip above from Variety, around the 1:10 mark, Joker director Todd Phillips responds to a question of how Phoenix’s method acting was and if he ever turned too dark.  The answer was fairly unusual at first.  His method acting was…nonexistent.  He didn’t do it for this film.  He would come in, shoot the scene, and after “cut” was said, he would carry on not as Arthur Fleck, not as Joker, but as Joaquin Phoenix.

This caught me off guard at first because I feel in this day and age we often hear about how actors and actress delve into their characters in order to properly prepare.  Phoenix’s approach makes me respect him even more as an actor.  Not that I don’t respect those who use method acting, I actually think it is quite amazing, I am just trying to wrap my mind around how an individual can go from what we see on film back to their actual self.  But that my friends is what they call acting, of course.

RELATED: Joker: Director Todd Phillips Intimidated By The Legacy Of The Character

Will you be checking out Joker? Are you surprised Phoenix did not use any method acting? Leave your thoughts in the usual spot, and thanks for reading!

Joker hits theaters October 4.

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Source: Variety

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