Here’s How Many Laughs Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Does In The Movie

Joker Joaquin Phoenix Robert De Niro Marc Maron Total Film Todd Phillips Durex Gary Glitter Martin Scorsese Oscar BAFTA

Joaquin Phoenix discussed how he developed three laughs for the titular role of Joker.

Todd Phillips’ Joker is set to deliver a new take on the Batman villain’s origin, with Joaquin Phoenix as the latest actor tasked with bringing the character to life. Of course, while every actor to portray the Joker has left their own indelible mark on the character, each one included their own take on the villain’s signature maniacal laugh.

Heroic Hollywood recently attended a Joker Q&A, where Joaquin Phoenix explained how he developed the three Joker laughs that will be featured in the film. As Joaquin Phoenix explained, Todd Phillips visited him so he could audition the Joker laughs and described the process as “uncomfortable”:

“Well really, do you remember I basically auditioned myself? I had you [Phillips] come over to audition the laugh because I didn’t think I could do it. So he showed some videos. I smiled and thought “That’s really good”, and he described the laugh being almost painful, which was a really interesting way to describe laughter. So, I just kind of like, I don’t know, I… You came into my house, that’s right, I tried it and it was very uncomfortable. And I stood up for 5 minutes, trying to work it up and finally he said, “You don’t have to do this”

Joaquin Phoenix also explained why he felt it was important to audition his Joker laugh despite Todd Phillips telling him the role was already his if he wanted it:

“I said, ‘No, I have to do this, because if I don’t do this now, if I can’t force myself to find it now, then forever, I’m going to f—ing p— out.'”

Are you excited to see Joaquin Phoenix’s take on Joker? What did you think of the laugh based on what we saw in the Joker trailers? Let us know in the comments section below!

Here is the official synopsis for Joker:

Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fracturedsociety. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.

Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.

Joker will be released in theaters on October 4, 2019.

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.