🤡 Warning: mild spoilers ahead. 🤡
1. For Joker, Joaquin Phoenix went on an extreme diet and lost 52 pounds.
2. And the role of Arthur Fleck was conceived with Phoenix in mind.
3. However, Phoenix said that he did not refer to any past iterations of the character when developing his role.
4. When preparing for the role, Phoenix studied the movements of iconic silent film stars like Buster Keaton and Ray Bolger.
5. It's pretty blatant, but a lot of late '70s and early '80s "character study" films served as major influences on the film and you can see many visual similarities.
THE JOKER X TAXI DRIVER
Phillips referred to films like Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Serpico, Raging Bull, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at the Venice Film Festival as particular influences.