Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, who won the Academy Award for his take on the Joker in the first feature film, the actor revealed he almost played the part in another Batman movie. In a new interview, Phoenix said he talked to Christopher Nolan to play the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight, though he didn’t wind up with the role.
Speaking in length on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin, Phoenix talked about a slew of topics, also how he met Nolan and wanted the role of Batman’s iconic villain. However, he soon realized he wasn’t right for the part.
“I remember I talked to Chris Nolan about The Dark Knight and that didn’t happen for whatever reason. I wasn’t ready then,” the actor explained (via Deadline). “That’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘What is in me that’s not doing this?’ And it’s not about me. There’s something else. There’s another person who is going to do something.”