Before he played the starring role in 2019’s Joker, Joaquin Phoenix was close to landing the same role in The Dark Knight. The actor recently revealed The Dark Knight’s director Chris Nolan approached him to play Batman’s primary villain during the preliminary round of casting.

Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, who won the Academy Award for his take on the Joker in the first feature film, the actor revealed he almost played the part in another Batman movie. In a new interview, Phoenix said he talked to Christopher Nolan to play the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight, though he didn't wind up with the role.