Joaquin Phoenix Lost 52 Pounds to Play Joker

Actors undergo extreme transformations sometimes when it comes to playing iconic characters. Christian Bale gained a crazy amount of muscle to play Batman, and Jared Leto basically alienated everyone on set when he played Joker in Suicide Squad. As it turns out, Joaquin Phoenix also underwent his own transformation when it came to Joker.

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, director Todd Phillips reveals that Phoenix had lost 52 pounds prior to shooting Joker. Phoenix himself commented, "All I can do is approach the character the way I do and that's it. I just tried to do something that we felt was honest and unique. However you guys want to talk about it, knock yourself out."

Phillips has also said that the movie won't be based off any comics, and that it will be an original take on the Clown Prince of Crime. Phillips explained:

"We wanted to look at everything through as real and authentic a lens as possible… I don't believe that in the real world if you fell into a vat of acid you would turn white and have a smile and your hair would be green. So you start backwards-engineering these things and it becomes really interesting. ‘How about if he's a clown at one of these places where you rent out entertainment?' It was one of the most fun scripts to write because you were only breaking rules."

Certainly there are some fans who aren't a fan of this approach, but personally, I'm happy we're going to get a more experimental film in the DCEU. With Aquaman and Shazam!, it felt like DC was trying to replicate Marvel's kid-friendly formula, but with Joker, we get some more of that grit and darkness that was present in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman.

We don't know if this Joker film will turn out great for audiences, but a lot of people are already singing its praises. All we can really do as fans is wait and see how everything goes; I mean, it's not the first time critics and audiences disagreed with each other.

Joker hits theaters Oct. 4.

Read Also: Joker Director is Okay With His Character Eventually Getting Rebooted