Mark Hamill is of course best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Original Star Wars trilogy, and now its sequels as well. But if he were to have another, it would be the voice of the Joker. A role he has played in numerous animated shows and video games, most notably the acclaimed 1990s Batman animated series, the series that birthed the Joker’s partner and love-interest, Harley Quinn. Harley made her live-action film debut this year in Suicide Squad, which also provided audiences and fans with a brand new interpretation of the Joker by Academy Award winning actor, Jared Leto.
Leto’s DCEU version of the Joker has been a topic of much debate from the first image released to the mixed reaction to the final cut of the latest DC movie. Leto himself was disappointed with the amount of Joker that was cut from the theatrical cut of Suicide Squad and most fans were torn about the tattoo covered, gangster style Joker portrayed on screen. Hamill’s animated version is often cited as the definitive Joker portrayal and in a recent interview gave up a few quotes about Leto’s version of the character.
“Everyone brings a different spin to the character and you have to look at each script separately, I don’t think there’s a definitive version of the Joker and I don’t think there can be. It’s like Hamlet, really. It’ll be constantly redefined.”
Hamill had previously said that he loved Leto’s version and that he hasn’t seen a “terrible” interpretation yet. Hamill explained, the key to enjoying all the various iterations of the Clown Prince of Crime was to look for what each version needed to be in that particular moment or medium. Hamill mentioned how Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker was completely different to Jack Nicholson’s, simply because it had to be. The same could truly be said about Leto’s performance in Suicide Squad.
Source: Polygon
