How Joaquin Phoenix Lost All That Weight for Joker Is a Kinda Scary – Comicbook.com

Physical transformations are very much a part of the movie experience for actors. It's not uncommon for an actor to gain or lose weight or do other modifications to their appearance in order to bring a character to life on screen. This is especially true when it comes to Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips' Joker. The actor notably lost a significant amount of weight in order to play the very thin would-be comedian who ultimately becomes the Joker, but how Phoenix did it may not have been the healthiest way of going about it and could be considered downright scary.

According to Phillips, who talks about Phoenix's transformation on the upcoming Blu-ray of Joker (via CinemaBlend,) Phoenix eschewed the help of a professional nutritionist to help guide him through his ultimately 52 pound weight loss and came up with his own plan: a solitary apple per day. More than that, he did it in a frighteningly short amount of time, just a few months.

"It was already like June and he hadn't started [losing weight] and we start shooting in September. And he's like, 180 pounds. He wasn't fat but we're talking about getting to 125 pounds," Phillips said. "And he goes 'I got it, I got it.' I go 'You know we can hire a guy. I got this thing, this woman who's a nutritionist, you might wanna...' 'No, no, that's not how I do it.' I go 'How do you do it?' He goes 'I just stop eating and I starve myself.' He just ate an apple a day for the whole summer."

An apple of day for roughly three months is certainly not likely to be a doctor-approved and safe way of losing weight, but it's also possible that it's a bit of an exaggeration. Phoenix himself told Access Hollywood last September that his diet included more than just apples and he also insisted that he had worked closely with a medical professional during the process as it's something he's done before.

"It wasn't an apple a day. No, you've also got lettuce and steamed green beans," Phoenix said. "It's something I've done before and you work with a doctor regimented and overseen and safe."

However Phoenix actually pulled off the major weight loss, it certainly paid off. The actor's overall performance as Arthur Fleck has been one of the most universally praised elements of Joker, one that's seen critical acclaim, earned awards nominations, and has even received high praise from his fellow actors, including American Horror Story star Kathy Bates who recently told Deadline about how she was inspired by it.

"Well, recently I saw an incredible performance by Joaquin Phoenix and as the Joker and it was electrifying and I had seen his work over the years but this was just astounding and in fact, I've gone back and watched it again and to see a performance like that inspires me to do better and to see what's possible," Bates said. "To see the kind of intricacy of work and the building of a character slowly over time and I mean this in the best way, the selfishness that it takes to create that kind of performance and it just inspires me not to get better, although that's part of it, but it makes me so happy that there's a performance like that out there that I know when I moved on from this earthly plane that the craft will be in the hands of someone like him and a lot of the younger people that are coming up. It makes me feel that the last 50 years have been worth it."

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How Joaquin Phoenix Lost All That Weight for Joker Is a Kinda Scary - Comicbook.com

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero