WalkTheLine, he’sdoneconsistentlyincredible
workinmuchsmallercharacterstudies.Hewas
intalkstostarinDoctorStrange, butthosetalks
fizzled—indeed,it’shardtoimaginePhoenix
signingupforendlessMarvelmovies.Phillips,
though,wasdetermined.“Ithinkhe’sthe
greatestactor,”hesays.“Wehada photoofhim
aboveourcomputerwhilewewerewriting.We
constantlythought,‘God,imagineif Joaquin
actuallydoesthis.’”
BythepoolinLosAngeles,Phoenix,behind
hissunglasses,throwsEmpiresomecrumbs.
“Ididreadcomicsgrowingup,I collectedthem
whenI was13,”hesays,mentioningGrant
MorrisonandDaveMcKean’sArkhamAsylum
graphicnovelasonethatparticularlygrabbed
him.Coincidentally,a fewyearsagohe’dhad
a similarideatoPhillipsregardingsuperhero
territory.“Icalledmyagentandsaid,‘Hey,
wouldn’tit becooltodoa movielikethatbut
low-budget,kindofa characterstudy?But
I didn’tgetveryfar.”Thatmightexplain,
though,whyhewasreceptivewhenPhillips
senthimtheJokerscript.
PhillipswashopefulthatPhoenixwould
reactpositively,asthedirectorcallsJoker“the
mostun-studiostudiomoviethat’sbeenmade
ina reallylongtime.Buta hugeproblemfor
himis thatit wascalledfuckin’Joker. Andit
wasa DCthing.Justgettingit tohimwasa
thing,andconvincinghimtoreadit wasa thing.”
Buthelikedthescript.“Ijustgeta feeling,”
saysPhoenixofwhyhetookit on,whyhe
takesanythingon.“It’sthatit hasinspired
somethinginme,andI wannaknowmore,
I wannagetinit more.”
Hesignedup,andatPhillips’requestlost
quitea bitofweight—thedirectorthought
Arthurshouldlookhungry,sickly.Andforeight
weeksbeforeshooting,thepairhungoutat
Phoenix’sapartment,talkingthroughthescript,
exploringtone.Finally,saysPhoenix,aftermuch
timere-readingthescript,listeningtomusic,
makingnotes,everythingclicked:“Atsome
point,it justbecomespartofyourlife,you’re
nolongerstudying.Andthat’sthebeststuff.
Whenyoujustletgo,andcomefrommoreof
aninstinctiveplace.”
NewYorkstoodinforPhillips’Gotham.“In
themostreductivewayit’stheNewYorkof 1981
thatI remember,”saysthedirector,whogrewup
there.“It’sa broken-downcity,andthepeople
init arebrokendown.”Hewasalwaysgoingto
shootonthestreets.“Theenergyyougetfrom
anactoris differenton179thStreetandJerome
AvenueintheBronxthanif wedidthat
green-screen,which,bytheway,I don’teven
knowhowtodoshitlikethat,”helaughs.
“There’snotonegreen-screeninthismovie.”
Phillipsknewthatthroughfilminghe’dwant
todevotehistimetoPhoenix.“Ineededtobe
therewithJoaquin,”hesays,andhewasableto
dosothankstopowerhouseproducerEmma
TillingerKoskoff,whohasworkedonevery
MartinScorsesefeaturefilmsince2006’s
The Departed. Phillips had sent the script to
Above:Fleckfinds
inspirationatthe
world’sworstfair.
Right:Fullclownon
thestreetsof
Gotham.Below:
Phillipsdirects
RobertDeNiro,
anotherheavyweight
additonastalkshow
hostMurrayFranklin.
Belowright:Murray
andFleckarebound
in twisted ways.