The Joker Question That Made Joaquin Phoenix Walk Out

Joaquin Phoenix may play a man with an uncontrollable cackle in director Todd Phillips' Joker, but he certainly wasn't laughing in an interview about the dark and gritty comic book movie.

Phoenix, who stars as failed comedian Arthur Fleck in the Joker origin story film releasing on October 4, sat down for an interview with The Telegraph's Robbie Collin. During the conversation, Collin asked Phoenix if he was worried that his performance might inspire real world copycat killers. The question apparently took Phoenix by surprise, causing the actor to briefly walk out of the interview.

Collin described what happened:

"Unlike Heath Ledger's inscrutable take on the character in 2008's The Dark Knight, Phoenix's Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian who still lives with his elderly mother, is the horribly familiar enemy within. If the film hadn't been set in the '80s he could easily be the latest online message-board extremist to take his grievances murderously viral. Yet Phoenix doesn't seem to have considered this kind of question at all. So when I put it to him — aren't you worried that this film might perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it's about, with potentially tragic results? — his fight-or-flight response kicks in."

Phoenix reportedly replied,

"Why? Why would you? No… no."

According to Collin, Phoenix then stood up, shook his hand, and left the interview.


Roughly an hour later — largely spent talking with Warner Bros.' PR team — Phoenix returned to finish the interview. The actor explained that he left because he had never considered the possibility, and needed time to try and figure out an appropriate response. But the interview concluded without Phoenix answering the question.

And it's a question that many critics are already asking. Though most reviewers gave Joker high marks after its worldwide debut at the Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, more than one also suggested that the film may send a dangerous message and give viewers the wrong idea about avenging their own personal grievances.

Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson wondered in his review of Joker whether the film, quote, "may be irresponsible propaganda for the very men it pathologizes."

Stephanie Zacharek at Time felt that Arthur Fleck comes across uncomfortably similar to some of the most violent, dangerous people who have inflicted incredible harm to people, particularly in America. Keep watching the video to see the Joker question that made Joaquin Phoenix walk out!

#Joker #JokerMovie #JoaquinPhoenix