Joaquin Phoenix Admits He Started to 'Go Mad' While Filming 'Joker'

Todd Phillips' upcoming Joker has fans buzzing over the promise of a psychological rollercoaster of a film in order to understand the man who became the infamous Gotham villain. While Phillips promises it won't be a typical superhero movie, that doesn't mean it won't be intense. It's already received an R-rating and even the two trailers look dark and ominous.

Joaquin Phoenix has been discussing his experience playing Arthur Fleck while doing promo for the movie, and recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he lost 52 pounds for the part. He added, "It turns out that affects your psychology. You start to go mad."

Phoenix also shared that the character evolved with the movie production. "Throughout the course of shooting it felt like every day we were discovering new parts of his personality, up until the very last day," he claimed, later elaborating:

"It was his struggle to find happiness and to feel connected and to feel
warmth and love and that’s the part of the character I was interested in. He was so many different things to me. Who he was in the first few weeks of shooting was completely different than who he was in the end. He was constantly evolving. I’ve never had an experience like this. The more unpredictable and looser we left it, the more exciting it was."

This interview only intensifies our excitement for the DC film. Joker opens in theaters Oct. 4.