Before Filming, ‘Joker’ Stars Phoenix and De Niro Disagreed About One Thing

When you think of great actors who are willing to inhabit their roles, Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro are two of the best. However, each of the acclaimed performers have their own ways to prepare for a role. One such difference in their approach is the cast read through. Phoenix does not want to over prepare for a role, wanting the anxiety of the job to motivate him. De Niro wants a read through to get an overall idea of the story and the character interaction. So when De Niro expressed the need for that read through, Phoenix balked. At least initially.

When De Niro gathered the cast together for a reading of Joker, Phoenix made it clear that he wasn’t interested, telling Director Todd Phillips: “There’s no f****** way I’m doing a read-through.” De Niro, who is used to getting what he wants, replied to Phillips telling him:

Tell him he’s an actor and he’s got to be there. I like to hear the whole movie and we’re going to all get in a room and just read it.

Due to his respect for De Niro, Phoenix agreed to participate but only to a point. He mumbled through parts of it, when he wasn’t standing in a corner to smoke. Eventually, De Niro invited Joaquin to come to his office to talk about his misgivings. They talked it out and they were fine. De Niro even kissed Phoenix on the cheek telling him, “It’s going to be OK, bubbeleh.” So it basically came down to two great actors who have their own way of achieving their great results. Unfortunately, their film characters didn’t quite come to such an amicable conclusion.

Does it surprise you that great actors might have a different method to approach their roles? What did you think of the interaction of Phoenix and De Niro’s characters in Joker? Share your acting reviews with us at Geek Vibes Nation.

h/t: Comicbook.Com

Martin

Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.