How Joaquin Phoenix Transformed Into a Gotham City Psychopath

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He’s Batman’s nemesis and Harley Quinn’s love interest. He wreaks havoc all over Gotham, leaving behind a trail of gaseous toxins and pathological laughter. And he’s been around since the ‘40s.

We’ve seen our fair share of versions of the maniacal comic book character over the years—Jack Nicholson‘s terrifying iteration in 1989 and Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning depiction in 2008 come to mind. But this year saw a different kind of Joker, one whose story was more realistic. Instead of a supernatural villain whose weapons of choice involve razor-tipped playing cards and acid-spewing flowers, director Todd Phillips’ depiction of the titular character, played by Joaquin Phoenix, involves a failed stand-up comedian whose mental instability and desire for revenge cause him to go on a killing spree. This particular concept has, of course, been met with controversy. Recent mass shootings and the Incel community—as well as the film’s portrayal of mental illness, gun ownership, and class warfare—have not been lost on audiences, with the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where James Holmes killed 12 people during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, even refusing to show it. Elsewhere, cinemas are ramping up security and banning costumes during screenings.

That said, Phoenix’s performance of the green-haired antihero has been widely praised, and Oscar rumors are swirling. The award-winning actor lost a whopping 52 pounds for the role, and in addition to mimicking the specific kind of cackle emitted from those who suffer from Pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition that causes uncontrollable laughter, Phoenix said he read books on famous political assassins, closely studying their psyches and motives. On several occasions, his commitment to the role was so intense he walked off set.

Phoenix’s Joker differs from previous versions externally, too. Missing are the prosthetics that stretch his grin to an abnormally sinister degree and the black-rimmed eyes that evoke a corpse-like hollowness. Rather, Phoenix’s appearance is one that resembles a washed-up party clown-for-hire whose makeup and facial expressions feel eerily unsettling at best, but not at all unrealistic. Which, Joker‘s makeup artist Nicki Ledermann tells CR, is kind of the whole point. Below, the beauty pro opens up about painting the face of Gotham City’s most notorious villain.

Prior to this film, have you ever created a beauty look on a clown, a supervillain, or a psychopath?
“No, and it scared the hell out of me. The joker is such an iconic figure, and we’ve seen so many different ones already…I didn’t want to do a bad job, and it’s scary to achieve something uniquely good when so many other people have already done it successfully.”

How did you settle on the final look? He looks a bit more sad than he does menacing.
“When I had my first meeting with [Todd Phillips], he showed me a mockup of the clown design that he and the production designer came up with. I basically took that mockup and translated it to what would work on Joaquin’s facial features.”

Did Joaquin have any say in the look?
“Absolutely. He was very much involved. For a couple weeks we were playing with makeup at the studio, trying different textures, colors, and looks. There’s a lot of transition going on. Like, you have versions where his makeup is smeared, not smeared, bloodied up, et cetera, so it was important we settled on the basic look. It was a lot of trial and error.”

Did you reference the original comic book Joker at all?
“Not at all. I chose not to because I didn’t want to have that image stuck in my head and subconsciously copy that. I needed to make sure that I wasn’t getting distracted by other designs and that it was truly coming out from a new and fresh thought process.”

Roughly how long did it take you to apply the makeup before each scene?
“We had it down to about 10 to 15 minutes. Joaquin is a very intense actor and he is not very comfortable sitting for long. He also doesn’t like to sit in a chair and be touched. I really wanted to give him the space, so I would do my thing and then go. Also, it was important that the makeup needed to be organic and fast because his character wouldn’t sit there for hours and put his makeup on. He would do it in 10 or 15 minutes and be done with it. I wanted to make it as real as possible by doing it exactly as he would do himself.”

The director said in a recent interview that the set was very intense, and that Joaquin behaved a bit erratically at times. Do you feel this is accurate? If so, do you think it might’ve been due to the gritty subject matter and Phoenix’s reputation as someone who practices method acting?
“Joaquin is a very intense actor, but he was also so loved and admired by the crew. Our directors are very strong. There was a lot of masculinity on set, which sometimes can feel intense. It’s a very hard job, but at the same time, it was a very gratifying one. Everybody had a huge stake in it, so maybe that’s what was part of the intensity. But everyone was in love with Joaquin, not only because he’s so talented, but he’s also such an incredible and interesting animal—he really isn’t a person. It’s hard to put your finger on it. He can be nervous, but he can also be very funny. There’s something sexy about him, too, and I don’t mean sexy in a sexual way. People are just drawn to him—men, women, anybody. He has this gift that just draws you in and mesmerizes you, and I think the Joker had to have that. Even with the best makeup and hair and costume design and production design, it doesn’t even come close if the [actor] doesn’t have those qualities.”

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