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Published 13:18 IST, September 12th 2019

Joker| Joaquin Phoenix would sometimes walk off the set: Todd Phillips

'Joker' director Todd Phillips reveals that Joaquin Phoenix, who is acing the lead role, would sometimes walkout from the set in the middle of a scene.

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'Joker' director Todd Phillips has revealed that Joaquin Phoenix, whose unnerving performance the film is generating early Oscar buzz, would sometimes walkout from the set in the middle of a scene.

In a cover story on the 44-year-old actor in The New York Times, Phillips revealed that they had several fruitful creative differences over the character, one of the most iconic and complex villains in the Batman lore.

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READ | 'Joker': Joaquin Phoenix Reveals How He Mastered The Iconic Laugh Of Batman's Arch-nemesis

Phillips said Joaquin Phoenix "lost his composure on the set, sometimes to the bafflement of his co-stars".

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"In the middle of the scene, he'll just walk away and walk out. And the poor other actor thinks it's them and it was never them  it was always him, and he just wasn't feeling it," he told The New York Times.

READ | 'Joker' Doesn't Follow The Comic Books: Director Todd Phillips

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Joaquin Phoenix, however, would always return after taking a break. 

"We'll take a walk and we'll come back and we'll do it," is what Joaquin Phoenix told Phillips after a particularly tense moment.

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Robert De Niro, who stars as a late-night show host in the movie, was the one person that Joaquin Phoenix never walked out on. De Niro said Joaquin Phoenix was a 'consummate professional'.

READ | The Battle Between Heath Ledger's And Joaquin Pheonix's Jokers Has Begun, But Did You Spot These Hidden References In The Trailer?

"Joaquin was very intense in what he was doing, as it should be, as he should be," De Niro said. 

Phillips is not worried about how Joaquin Phoenix will handle the publicity of the film, saying, "If he goes on Jimmy Kimmel and walks off after two minutes, I'd be like, That's my boy'. He follows his own rhythm." 

READ | Joaquin Phoenix's Joker & Robert Pattinson's Batman Won't Cross

Watch Joker trailer here:

 

12:53 IST, September 12th 2019