Joker: Joaquin Phoenix’s co-star recalls his ‘irritating’ move which nearly derailed scene

Joker saw Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck determined to live out his dream of becoming a comedian.

In one scene, he was seen attending a stand-up gig to analyse the comedians on stage and hone his own material.

The funny man performing was, in fact, played by real life comedian Gary Gulman, who was previously a finalist on NBC’s talent competition Last Comic Standing.

In an interview with Collider, Gulman recounted an incredible anecdote from his time on set with Phoenix, revealing a habit which “irritated” him during filming.

READ MORE

• Joker fan theory: ‘It’s an act’ Joker plotted EVERYTHING from asylum

“The one thing I will stay that was a bit irritating is that when I was running through my set, there were all these extras and they’d clearly been told that I was doing well, so they were laughing and enthusiastic,” he explained.

“And there was one extra who was so enthusiastic in his laughter that it was throwing off my timing.

“He was just laughing too loud and right when I was about to say something to Todd [Phillips, the director] about maybe getting the guy not to laugh so loud, I realised that it was Joaquin Phoenix,” he added. “It’s my best Joker story.

“I can’t believe it took me six minutes to figure out that the man with the really bizarre laugh was the Joker,” Gulman admitted.

Thankfully, the comedian realised his mistake just in time, although it can’t have been easy to soldier on with his set with the Joker’s wild cackle cutting through the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, Gulman also addressed the controversy in the reception Joker has received since it’s release earlier this month.

“I think it’s one of the greatest acting performances I’ve ever seen,” he told the publication.

“I’d have to go back to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln or Joaquin Phoenix in The Master to remember s a performance that was so dynamic. It was like no other movie, and it certainly wasn’t like any other comic book movie.

“It was more along the lines of Taxi Driver than it was any of the Batman movies, so I can understand where some people are into thinking that it — I don’t know, not glorifying, but giving some understanding to a violent man, and dismissing his violence.

“But, at the same time, to me, it seemed more like a very tragic story of a person failed by society but also the healthcare system and particularly the mental healthcare system,” he argued.

Elsewhere, the movie has sparked a frenzy of theories from fans with regards to the meaning and the plot.

One fan theory suggested the Joker plotted everything from inside the asylum and that, rather than the events in the middle of the film being in his head, they were simply yet to occur.

While some have speculated the events of the movie didn’t actually happen, Reddit user maxaroni_and_cheese said Joker’s laugh at the end of the film was because he had planned out the whole series of atrocities.

“The Joker is incredibly intelligent in most iterations, but this one is not,” they said. “So what if that was all an act, and this is what he plans before leaving the hospital?

“He bangs his head against the door in the beginning, when talking to his first therapist, who bears a striking resemblance to the one at the end of the movie.

“What if he was there, in the asylum, the whole time, and it was told out of order?” they added.

Joker is out in cinemas now.

Source: Read Full Article