Joaquin Phoenix is one of the very best actors working today. Movies as varied and essential as “Her,” “The Master,” “You Were Never Really Here,” and “Two Lovers” have cemented his reputation as a cinematic iconoclast. He brought everything he had to those roles, but it does look like he went that extra mile for his turn in “Joker.”
In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, “Joker” director Todd Phillips confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix lost 52 pounds to play the role of Arthur Fleck aka The Joker. His slim frame is almost unmissable in the recently released “final” Joker trailer, which shows Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck living as a struggling comedian in Gotham City in the 1980s.
Phoenix’ “Joker” co-star Zazie Beetz also spoke to MTV about the actor’s weight loss, explaining that the film was rewritten as they were filming but Phoenix’ changing appearance meant they weren’t able to re-shoot scenes at a later date.
Actors losing or gaining weight for an important role isn’t anything new. Of course, there are extreme cases of dieting that do end up happening, such as Christian Bale losing 120 pounds for “The Machinist” or Tom Hanks losing 50 for “Cast Away.” Phoenix losing 52 pounds no doubt belongs in the “extreme” category with the above actors.
“Hope,” Na’s first film in ten years — his last one being the exemplary “The Wailing” —is a gloriously messy, blood-soaked sci-fi epic that may become a cult classic despite—or because of—its polarizing nature.