Everyone is talking about The Joker sequel and what to expect from Lady Gaga. In truth, the prep for such a film is very intense. That was the case for the late Heath Ledger who perfected the role. The same held true for Joaquin Phoenix who underwent an intense prep, losing over 50-pounds for the role while having to go into a very dark place for the character.
As we'll reveal in the following, Phoenix lost most of the weight during the final three months of prep for the film. Filmmaker Todd Phillips worried about his lead, given that he was nowhere near Joker ready just three months before the shoot. We're going to reveal how the actor was able to get it together, and how he lost all the weight when it mattered.
In addition, we'll take a closer look at Joaquin Phoenix's relationship with Todd Phillips, and which scene allowed the two to get on the same page for the film.
Joaquin Phoenix Revealed The Weight Loss Helped Get Him Into Character For The Joker
The hype is already very real for The Joker sequel. This should not come as a surprise given that Joaquin Phoenix's film soared at the box office, generating over $1 billion off a modest budget for a such a film.
Getting into character really started to take shape for the actor once the weight loss prep began.
Joaquin revealed, "The first thing was the weight loss, that’s really what I started with. As it turns out, that impacts your psychology, and you really start to go mad when you lose that much weight in that amount of time."
"There’s also a book about political assassins that I thought was interesting, and breaks down the different types of personalities that do those sorts of things [I do in the film]."
The actor admitted that basic things like walking up a flight of stairs turned into a daunting task, given his low energy. At the very least, he was able to channel that into his character.
Phoenix definitely delivered as far as the look went, however, filmmaker Todd Phillips worried they wouldn't get there.
Todd Phillips Grew Stressed When Joaquin Phoenix Still Hadn't Lost Much Weight Just Three Months Before The Shoot
It was three months prior to the shoot in June, and Joaquin Phoenix was still weighing 180-pounds, despite his target being 125-pounds. Losing 55-pounds in just three months is no joke, and Phillips wondered if he had to bring in a specialist to help the actor with the weight loss.
"It was already like June and he hadn’t started [losing weight] and we start shooting in September. And he’s like, 180 pounds. He wasn’t fat but we’re talking about getting to 125 pounds. And he goes ‘I got it, I got it.’ I go ‘You know we can hire a guy. I got this thing, this woman who’s a nutritionist, you might wanna…"
"No, no, that’s not how I do it.’ I go ‘How do you do it?’ He goes ‘I just stop eating and I starve myself.’ He just ate an apple a day for the whole summer."
Perhaps sarcastically, Phoenix revealed that his diet didn't just consist of an apple, and that he also had a couple of greens to his disposal throughout the day.
"It wasn’t an apple a day. No, you’ve also got lettuce and steamed green beans,” he said.
As if getting into character along with the dramatic weight loss wasn't hard enough, mastering The Joker laugh was also a stressful task for the actor.
Joaquin Phoenix's Relationship With Todd Phillips Completely Changed During A Particular Scene
Joaquin Phoenix had other stresses behind the scenes, one of which included the iconic Joker laugh. The actor did several takes portraying the laugh and according to Todd Phillips, every single take was spot on and what they were looking for.
As for Joaquin's motivation in finding the best laugh suited for The Joker, he went down a very unlikely road for motivation. "I watched videos of people suffering from pathological laughter, a neurological disorder that makes individuals laugh uncontrollably."
Phoenix would also reveal that the turning point for his relationship with Todd Phillips came during his dancing scene. Suddenly, while prepping for the scene, things became clear between the two.
“Not only was this a transformative moment for the character, but for me and Todd and how we worked together, where we would became comfortable with allowing things to unfold and not know the answer for the scene,” Phoenix said. “We started communicating without needing to verbalize everything. We started to understand each other."
"We were were locked into the same wavelength. Having the same ideas simultaneously, that’s the best. Todd and I had it a lot. It was uncanny.”