30 October 2024
Joker: Folie à Deux star Joaquin Phoenix has revealed that he spoke to director Christopher Nolan about playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, a role that ultimately went to Heath Ledger.
Ledger tragically passed away before Nolan's second Batman film was released in 2008. His role has since been praised as one of the best interpretations of the character, ultimately winning a posthumous Oscar.
Phoenix recently told music producer Rick Rubin on his Tetragrammaton podcast that he spoke to Nolan about playing the role during The Dark Knight's pre-production.
"[That] wasn’t going to happen for a number of reasons. I wasn’t ready then,” said Phoenix. "That’s one of those things sometimes where you go: Why am I not doing this project? What is stopping me from doing this? Well it’s not about me, there’s something else..."
Phoenix continued, saying: "There’s another person that’s going to do something that’s like, I can’t imagine what it would be if we didn’t have Heath Ledger‘s performance in that film...
“I don’t know whether Christopher Nolan was coming to me saying, ‘You are definitely the person.’ I can’t remember the context of how we met," added Phoenix. "We met, and my feeling was, ‘I shouldn’t do this.’ But maybe he also was like, ‘You’re not the guy.’ I couldn’t say.”
Phoenix would later win his own Academy Award for playing the Joker for director Todd Phillips in 2019. Meanwhile, Joker: Folie à Deux, co-starring Lady Gaga, will be available digitally from 4 November 2024.