Joaquin Phoenix Needed To Have Joker's ‘Painful’ Laugh Before Landing The Role

Joaquin Phoenix revealed that he was going to turn down the role of the diabolical clown in the movie “Joker” if he wasn't able to pull off a proper laugh to suit the needs of such a legendary character.

During a recent Q and A session after a screening of the film, the Oscar-nominated actor shared that he invited director Todd Phillips to his house to demonstrate his version of the character’s laugh in front of him before agreeing to play the role.

“Do you (Phillips) remember that I auditioned myself? I had you come over to audition the laugh. Because I did not think I could do it. So you showed me some videos of some laughs and I thought, ‘That’s really good,’” Phoenix said, according to Collider.

“In the script, it described the laugh being almost painful. I thought it was a really interesting way to describe laughter. And you came to my house, and I was really uncomfortable. I sat there five minutes trying to work it up, and you finally said, ‘You don’t have to do this.’”

But Phoenix insisted that he has to ace the laugh before grabbing the role, or else he won’t be taking part in the movie.

Meanwhile, the “Hangover” director recently revealed that Phoenix would just walk out of the set if he was not feeling okay while doing a particular scene, which would baffle his co-stars because they thought it was them who made Phoenix lose his composure on the set.

“In the middle of the scene, he would just walk away and walk out of the set. And the poor other actor thinks it is them and it was never them – it was always him and he just was not feeling it,” the director of the movie said.

“Joker” has created a lot of buzz around the world after receiving the prestigious Golden Lion Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festiva. The movie reportedly got an 8-minute standing ovation from the critics and viewers at the event.

“Joker” will next be shown at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 2, 2019. The movie is then scheduled to hit theatres nationwide two days later.