Joaquin Phoenix has established his place as an icon of Hollywood. He has taken on a variety of roles in his impressive career, showcasing his wide range as an actor. He’s been known to play awful villains, charismatic leading men, and everything in between.
One of Phoenix’s most famous films is 2019’s Joker, in which he played the titular role. A behind-the-scenes secret about the film that some fans might not know is that Phoenix had to drastically change his appearance in order to become the malnourished, mentally ill character.
A serious actor, Phoenix is no stranger to preparing for his roles for months before filming. He admitted that the physical changes he went through to play the Joker also had an impact on his mental health and helped him to get into the character. Read on to find out how Phoenix transformed into Batman’s archenemy.
2019’s ‘Joker’ Demanded A Lot Of Joaquin
In 2019, director and producer Todd Phillips released Joker, a film that paints a portrait of Batman’s nemesis, the Joker. Set in Gotham City, the film follows Arthur Fleck, who works as a party clown, who eventually turns to a life of crime after society abandons him.
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur and Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin, a talk-show host that Arthur idolizes but who ultimately shuns him like everybody else in his life. The film also features Zazie Beetz as Arthur’s love interest, Sophie, and Frances Conroy as Arthur’s ailing mother.
Joaquin Phoenix’s Role As Arthur
While the character of the Joker has appeared throughout pop culture before, Joaquin Phoenix’s version paints a picture of the villain before he becomes a villain. The film demonstrates how someone can end up turning to a life of crime when they are excluded from society.
Arthur begins as a clown trying to make others laugh. But after he is made fun of, beaten up, and rejected constantly, he is driven to his breaking point and commits murder, which he later defends.
How Did Joaquin Phoenix Transform Into The Joker?
Aside from Phoenix’s great acting talent, the physical transformation he underwent to become the Joker earned him praise from fans and critics. The biggest change that he went through was losing weight to appear malnourished and unhealthy as Arthur.
According to Vanity Fair, Phoenix lost 52 pounds by following an extremely restrictive diet that a doctor supervised and laid out for him. He only had a few months to lose weight for the role, so he had to go on a drastic diet that wouldn’t be considered healthy under normal circumstances.
In fact, he lost so much weight that the filmmakers knew they wouldn’t have a chance to reshoot any scenes later on, due to how different he looked.
What Did Joaquin Phoenix Eat To Lose Weight?
There was a rumor swirling around Hollywood that Phoenix only ate one apple a day in order to lose the weight for Joker. While that’s not exactly true, he certainly didn’t eat a lot.
Cinema Blend reports that Phoenix ate lettuce and steamed green beans every day. The very low calorie diet helped him to shed 52 pounds between June and September when filming started.
When reflecting on his diet, Phoenix revealed that starving himself helped him to get into the right mindset to play the Joker, as well as prepare his body.
The Mental Effects Of Joaquin Phoenix’s Extreme Diet
Phoenix later admitted that eating so little drained him of energy and had a significant effect on his mental health: “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.”
He told the Associated Press that he became fixated on the numbers and eventually developed an eating disorder. “So much of what’s difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over, like, 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop a disorder,” he said (via Prevention).
The Weight Loss Gave Joaquin A Sense Of Control
Losing so much weight also gave Phoenix a sense of control over his life, which further helped him to get into the character of the Joker.
“I felt like I could move my body in ways that I hadn’t been able to before. And I think that really lent itself to some of the physical movement that started to emerge as an important part of the character,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The actor, who leads a vegan lifestyle, is no stranger to changing his body for movie roles, and previously lost weight for the 2012 film The Master. In 2021, he gained weight for the film Disappointment Blvd, a comedy-horror that is set to be released in 2022.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGifqK9dmbalecmomKqtmaN6sbTOnqWisF2pv6K60p%2Bmq6Vdn7yssdFo