VIDEO: Joaquin Phoenix Honors Late Heath Ledger in SAG Awards Win Speech for 'Joker'

There's no doubt Joker star Joaquin Phoenix is beyond talented, but after taking home another big win last night at the SAG Awards, he also proved he is beyond gentlemanly.

The 45-year-old actor won the accolade for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Arthur Fleck, beating out Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), and Taron Egerton (Rocketman).

But instead of using his acceptance speech as a social platform like with his Golden Globes win, Phoenix decided to honor the men in his category, and one special actor who is no longer with us.

In the video above, Phoenix starts his speech by telling a story:

“When I started acting again and going to auditions, I’d always get to the final callback and there would always be two other guys we’d be up against. And we would always lose to this one kid. No actor would ever say his name ’cause it was like too much, but every casting director would whisper like, ‘It’s Leonardo, it’s Leonardo.’ Leo, you’ve been an inspiration for over 25 years to me and so many people. I thank you very, very much.”

The Walk the Line star then takes the time to compliment each of the other actors, telling Driver and Egerton that he is so excited to see where their careers will take them, and even joking with Bale that he wished he could “just suck once.”

Phoenix concludes his heartwarming speech by honoring the late Heath Ledger, who played the DC villain in The Dark Knight, saying, “Really, I’m standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor, Heath Ledger. So thank you and good night.”

Congratulations to Joaquin on yet another big win!