Joaquin Phoenix Says He Has 'Explored' Roles In Other Comic Book Films

Across the course of the 44-year-old's lengthy acting career, he has played many dark and complex characters, with his portrayal of Commodus in Gladiator and Johnny Cash in Walk the Line widely regarded as two of his finest performances. Given this, many have speculated that Phoenix would make a great Bond villain. However, just as with any future comic book-based film roles, Phoenix said the filmmaker will determine whether or not he takes on the part.

He said: "For me, what's important, what motivates my decisions, is not so much the character or the genre, or the type of movie - it's the filmmaker. It's really that simple. So I'm open to every kind of movie, I think it just requires a conversation with the filmmakers, to see if we have a shared vision, or even if we just like each other."

As for playing the Joker, Phoenix said he chose not to draw on any previous portrayals for his own performance.

"I thought it was important for it to be its own thing, to be its own interpretation," he said.

"What's interesting about this character is that everybody can interpret it however they want. Even with this film, I think the audience gets to interpret the character and what drives him, in a way that I think is unique for a lot of films, I mean it really asks the audience to participate, and I think that's interesting."

But even with the likes of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger famously playing the Joker previously, Phoenix said the weight of expectation is something he has grown used to - though he didn't truly appreciate the pressure of playing the character until a couple of days before filming.

He said: "Well I really wasn't that aware of it, I don't read entertainment news, I wasn't that aware of it until two days before shooting when I went to do press in Toronto for another film and I was asked this question by all the journalists, and I went 'f***, there's a lot of expectations'.

"But that's, you know in some ways, every movie you make, you're going to come up against people's expectations, even if it's original work - if it's simply just the writer and the filmmaker and what their expectations are. And so you learn, the only way to proceed is for it to be personal in some way, for you to come to some understanding, and you have to kind of disregard other people's opinions."

Joker is released on 4 October.