Joaquin Phoenix Reveals He Was Approached to Play Joker in The Dark Knight Before Heath Ledger Got the Role

Joaquin Phoenix dropped a major revelation during an interview on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin—he was approached by Christopher Nolan for the role of the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. The part, of course, ultimately went to Heath Ledger, whose legendary performance became one of the most iconic in film history.

“I remember I talked to Chris Nolan about The Dark Knight, and that didn’t happen for whatever reason,” Phoenix said. “I wasn’t ready then. That’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘What is in me that’s not doing this?’ And it’s not about me. There’s something else. There’s another person who is going to do something. … I can’t imagine what it would be if we didn’t have Heath Ledger’s performance in that film, right?”

Phoenix acknowledged that while he wasn’t certain if Nolan had him firmly in mind for the role, the timing just wasn’t right. “I don’t know whether Christopher Nolan was coming to me saying, ‘You’re definitely the person.’ I can’t remember the context of how we met, but I know we met,” he said. “My feeling was I shouldn’t do this, but maybe he also was like, ‘He’s not the guy.’”

Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker went on to earn him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. More than a decade later, Phoenix would take on the role of the Clown Prince of Crime himself in Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019). His performance earned him an Oscar for Best Actor, and the film became a massive hit, grossing over $1 billion worldwide.

However, Phoenix’s second outing as the Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux, has not seen the same success. Despite the star power of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, the sequel has underwhelmed at the box office, pulling in only $57 million domestically and $201 million globally since its October 4 release.

Interestingly, Phoenix’s latest Joker film revisits a creative idea that Nolan reportedly vetoed for the first Joker movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips originally wanted Phoenix’s Joker to carve a smile into his face, mirroring Ledger’s iconic look in The Dark Knight. Nolan allegedly blocked the idea at the time to protect the uniqueness of Ledger’s portrayal. However, with Nolan no longer working with Warner Bros., Phillips was given the green light to use the idea in Folie à Deux, where a character is shown carving a smile into their face.

Phoenix’s journey with the Joker role highlights the strange twists of Hollywood casting, where timing and circumstance shape cinematic history.