Joaquin Phoenix intentionally made himself thin to the point of looking sickly for 2019’s Joker, shedding more than 50 pounds in a performance that won him a Best Actor Oscar.
But to play Arthur Fleck aka Joker in the forthcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, he had to do it all over again — something made more difficult by the film’s new physical requirements, he told a panel at the Venice Film Festival, where the movie premieres Wednesday.
“I’m not going to talk through specifics of the diet, because I just think nobody wants to hear that,” he said Wednesday, according to Variety.
The new movie, in which Phoenix stars opposite Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, prominently features music and dance sequences, unlike director Todd Phillips‘ blockbuster original.
The actor continued, “This time, it felt a bit more complicated just because there was so much dance rehearsal that we were doing, which I didn’t have last time. So it felt a bit more difficult.”
He added, “I’m now 49, I probably shouldn’t do this again. This is probably it for me.”
He also said that Gaga “also lost a lot of weight,” noting, “It was really impressive.”
For her part, the actress/recording artist demurred, saying, “I think we transformed into our characters over a period of time, and we continued to hone in every kind of detail.”
For the record, Phoenix admitted to being “so angry” at himself “for making such a big deal about” the weight loss last time, because “it just sounds like an actor going on and on about how much weight they lost.”
“You just do what you’re f****** supposed to do,” he continued. “So this time I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that.'”
Joker: Folie à Deux opens Oct. 4.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
