American actor Joaquin Phoenix, known for eccentric and intense performances in film, has recently risen as an early Oscar contender and favorite following his lead role inThe Joker. It's not every year that comic book films enter festivals, but this yearThe Jokerwill be premiering at the Venice Film Festival and will later be screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, leading the industry to speculate Phoenix's Joker will be an award-nominating performance.
@must_actPerhaps unsurprisingly, this will not be your average comic super villain movie. Instead, it will most likely be a film that strays far away from its source material. “We didn’t follow anything from the comic-books, which people are gonna be mad about," director Todd Phillips said to Empire. "We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker might come from. That’s what was interesting to me. We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Joker. It’s about this man.”
Like Phillips explains, the film will tell the story of Arthur Fleck, an unsuccessful stand-up comedian and his road to becoming the psycho criminal that we already know ends up terrorizing Gotham City.
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Watch The First "Joker" Trailer, Featuring A Sinister Joaquin Phoenix
@must_actPhoenix has already been nominated three times for an Academy Award and his performances usually draw much attention at award season. For his portrayal as Johnny Cash inWalk the Linehe took home a Golden Globe AND a Grammy. Among his most celebrated roles are Emperor Commodus in Gladiator, Theodore Twombly, the depressed man who falls in love with an artificial intelligence assistant, and a fictionalized version of himself in which he quits acting a pursues a career as a rapper.
Pheonix has explored more complex roles in more independent and artsy-er films than the ones from his earlier career, so even if he doesn't win awards this next season, his acting is still one of the finest out there.
