Movies
Insane
Clown Posse
WITH TODD PHILLIPS’ DARKLY
DRAMATIC JOKER OUT OCT. 4, HERE’S
OUR RANKING OF EVERY MAJOR
PORTRAYAL OF THE GOTHAM BADDIE.
BY JAMES HIBBERD
actually write projects with actors
in mind, because you’re always dis-
appointed when they don’t do it”—he
did end up getting exactly the per-
formance he hoped for: “In some
ways, because he’s a star, Brad’s act-
ing is underrated. But he understood
it completely, this character who
lives so much in his own head.”
Heady isolation isn’t so much an
option in Pitt’s other day job as the
cofounder and CEO of Plan B, which
often involves developing and cham-
pioning the kinds of films that fall
far outside his own lived experience.
“It’s certainly not by design,” he says
of the studio’s particular track record
with black auteurs like Ava DuVer-
nay and Steve McQueen. “Myself
and my partners Jeremy [Kleiner]
and Dede [Gardner] have an extreme
belief in equality and this want for
justice in an unjust world, and I
think we naturally are kind of guided
that way. We were trying to get Selma
made for years, and it wasn’t until
12 Years did what it did that it sud-
denly opened the door for all of these
others.... But, you know, for every
one that gets made, there’s another
10, so it takes a fight for all of them.”
Since its 2001 founding, the
company has racked up three Best
Picture wins (for The Departed,
12 Years a Slave, and Moonlight), but
the thrice-nominated actor prom-
ises he’s not interested in gunning
for personal gold, despite the grow-
ing buzz on Astra and Hollywood.
“Oh, man. I’m gonna abstain,” he says
of campaigning for either role. “I
mean, you never know, and it’s really
nice when your number comes
up. But I find chasing it actually a
disservice to the purity of your tell-
ing a story, of the story itself, and
a shackling thing to focus on.”
He may be persuaded to move in
another direction, though: the
world of prestige television, where
A-list peers like Nicole Kidman
and Matthew McConaughey have
already blazed a trail. “Could I see
it? Absolutely,” he says. “What I love
about TV is you get to spend more
time with the characters. You have
to let go of so many scenes in order
to fit into the ‘film’ container, as
far as running time and how it plays.
And with a series, being able to
break it up, you can expand so much
more. I’m especially drawn to the
comedies that are able to do that.
We’ll see, we’ll see where it all lands,
but that’s certainly of interest.”
In the meantime, there’s more
than enough to keep him busy,
between promoting his current
projects and tending to a produc-
tion slate that this year already
includes Astra and the Sundance
sensation The Last Black Man
in San Francisco (which, this past
June, EW named the best film of
2019 so far), as well as the upcom-
ing Timothée Chalamet drama
The King and Moonlight director
Barry Jenkins’ Underground Rail-
road series for Amazon. So does
that mean there could be some
truth to a recent viral magazine
quote that implied he’ll soon
be done with big-screen acting?
“I was just saying it’s really a youn-
ger man’s game,” he insists. “Not
that there aren’t still parts and
interesting things to do. Or maybe
it’s just me, maybe I’ve just seen
my interests broadening or shift-
ing into other things. But no”—one
last, long ah-huh-huh-huh—“no!
It’s not a claim of retirement.” �
↑ From top Plan B productions Moonlight
(2016), The Last Black Man in San Francisco
(2019), and The King (Oct. 11)
A mesmerizing gonzo
anarchist whose every
declaration is an ear-
nestly told lie, Ledger
gives a terrifying
Oscar-winning perfor-
mance ever infused
with the knowledge
that the late actor will
never reprise the role.
Heath
Ledger
THE DARK KNIGHT
2008
Tim Burton’s Batman
pioneered the super-
hero genre, but it
was a manic, prancing
Nicholson who stole
the show. The actor
ratchets up his trade-
mark onscreen insan-
ity and takes the
villain to a new level.
Jack
Nicholson
BATMAN
1989
The polar opposite
of Nicholson’s glee -
ful take: Phoenix
portrays a creepy
and depressed Joker
in a capital-D Drama—
an abused and
emaciated animal
lashing out at
societal inequity.
Joaquin
Phoenix
JOKER
2019
Stunt-casting gone
right. The Star Wars
actor finally got to
play the bad guy, and
excels: He’s armed
with limitless varia-
tions on the Joker’s
maniacal laugh. In
the voice-over world,
Hamill is the Joker.
Mark Hamill
BATMAN: THE
ANIMATED SERIES
1992
The first live-action
Joker became the
template for the char-
acter, despite Rome-
ro’s refusal to shave
his mustache. He fully
inhabits the role but
was limited by the cre-
ative constraints of
the campy ’60s series.
Cesar
Romero
BATMAN TV SERIES
1966
From the forehead
tattoo spelling out
“damaged” to getting
sidelined for half the
movie, Leto’s Juggalo-
gangster Joker seems
both ill-conceived and
underused. His method-
acting pranks while
filming didn’t help.
Jared
Leto
SUICIDE SQUAD
2016
EW ● COM OCTOBER 2019 107
MOONLIGHT
: DAVID BORNFRIEND/A24;
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
: DAVID MOIR/A24;
THE KING
: NETFLIX;
THE DARK KNIGHT
, BATMAN
(1989),
SUICIDE SQUAD
: WARNER BROS. (3);
JOKER
: NIKO TAVERNISE/WARNER BROS.;
BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES
: PHOTOFEST;
BATMAN
(1966): EVERETT COLLECTION
