The villain and arch-enemy of Batman has been interpreted in film, television and video games by various actors throughout history: César Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, …
Joker, after its premiere on October 4, 2019, has become a great success for both the public and critics thanks in large part to Joaquin Phoenix who incarnates an almost sickly way to Arthur Fleck, who has won the nomination for best actor in the 2020 Oscars that with his 11 nominations became the film with the most nominations of the year.
After the 92nd Oscar Gala, Todd Philips' film managed to win 2 prizes: best original soundtrack, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and best leading actor Joaquin Phoenix, thus achieving at 45 years of age his first statuette as best leading actor picking up the Heath Ledger Joker witness who won the best supporting actor award with The Dark Knight at the 2009 Oscars.
Phoenix had just won the best actor awards at Cannes and at the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA, thus achieved its third nomination after Walk the Line (where it embodied Johnny Cash) and The Master, as well as a nomination for best supporting actor by Gladiator.
The American actor, and of Puerto Rican origin, recognized for his roles in Her, Gladiator, The Master or On the Tightrope has been the last to join the list of interpreters that has given life to this disturbing villain. However, before him, there have been many other actors who have played the role of this charismatic villain, being those of Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger some of the most acclaimed by public and specialized critics.
Then we review all the actors of the Joker that have been throughout history in film and television, not forgetting those who have only given voice.
Cesar Romero
The famous Batman series starring Adam West of the 60s had the first Joker of all time in Cesar Romero. The Cuban-born actor embodied a character who always looked eccentric faces and in which the mythical purple suit was not missing.
Jack nicholson
Tim Burton's film of the year 1989 has been one of the most acclaimed Batman tapes by the public and part of its success is by the charismatic Joker that Jack Nicholson brought to life. This is, in fact, one of the most remembered interpretations of the actor and the character, which has come to be considered as one of the best of it.
Heath Ledger
The most recognized interpreter for his role as the Joker was Heath Ledger, the Australian actor who merged with the villain in The Dark Knight. The result of this was one of the most remembered performances of the cinema in a film of the genre, which earned him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor posthumously after his death at 28 years of age. A dark Joker who put Batman on the ropes and who was truly scary and scary.
Jared Leto
Suicide Squad brought a renewed version of the villain that did not satisfy many spectators and was not free of criticism. The Leto Joker was unconventional, with a clear commitment to aesthetic development rather than plot aspects. The attacks that Warner Bros suffered could lead to the change of an actor, although finally the character will have a solo film in which he gains prominence.
Joaquin Phoenix
In this case, Phoenix gives life to a Joker in a play that has been directed by Todd Philips and in which Martin Scorsese participated in the production. His paper addresses the transformation of an Arthur Fleck, a man who begins to be beaten and set apart by society that lead him to adopt a dark and tragic vision of the world in a tape that ignores the popular superhero tone in the genre to create A more disturbing film. And precisely, the highlight of the critics is the interpretation of Phoenix, who has not taken long to become a clear favorite to win all the awards in the film industry.
Voice actors
The Joker has also been a recurring character in films and animation series, as well as in video games, so there have been a large number of voice actors that have given him life in these media.
Mark Hamill, the actor known for his role in Star Wars as Luke Skywalker is one of the most mythical playing the DC villain. In fact it is the one that has done it for the longest time, but it has been through the animated versions of it. It began with Batman The Animated Series in 1992, the television fiction that had a great success and after this it appeared in various films and video games such as the Arkham trilogy always as the voice interpreter of the Joker. He remained in this position until 2011, but returned in 2017 to return to be the villain in the movie The Murderous Joke, which adapted the famous and acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore.
In addition to Hamill, others who have put their voice have been Kevin Michael Richardson, known for being Lex Luthor, but also the Joker in the 2004 film, The Batman's. In the 2008 series, The Bold Batman is Jeff Bennett who plays the clown prince of crime with a more comical and less serious aspect. Steve Blum did the same in Lego Batman: The Video Game, John Di Maggio, known for Bender in Futurama and Jake The Dog in Adventure Time caught the witness in the movie Batman: Under the red hood. Brent Spiner did it in the Young Justice League series and Michael Emerson in the movie The Dark Knight's Return. Troy Baker, known for being Joel in The Last of Us, picked up the witness in video games at Arkham Origins in 2013.
