Simply Abu Dhabi XXXV

Q: Congrats on this incredible performance. I can’t get the physical contortions out of my head. How did you do it? JP: There are two sequences in this movie that are important in regards to that physicality: the clown routine and the dance on the steps. I started talking to the choreographer that was brought in. It was very interesting to me, to learn about the vocabulary of dance and movement. We started watching some videos, and one in particular really moved me. It wasn’t the dance so much as the attitude that I liked. The arrogance was what I stole. That was where Joker comes out. Q: So, the Joker almost emerged while you were filming themovie? JP: Yes, that’s true. He is always inside, but he does come out through the movement and the dance. I really didn’t know, but it’s like a dance. So, when we started playing this music – a cello piece – and I came in and started to move, it was very natural. This idea of metamorphosis was intriguing to me. Who is this guy, and how did he become who he is? It was almost some kind of interpretive dance. Q: What kind of reaction did you have when you were told you would play the Joker, and how did you prepare for this role? JP: When they first approached me, I thought – no way I am not going to do this. I always thought there was opportunity to explore more with these kinds of characters that have not yet been explored. I have not seen it in other comic book movies. I met with the director, Todd Phillips. And he showed me videos of these laughing pits. The laughter was almost painful for Todd. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at this character. I never thought about the Joker that way. We just continued to have a conversation. Q: And did you read the comic strips? JP: As we began doing the research, I thought I wanted to go my own way. I didn’t want to be influenced by any other comics or any of that. I tried to approach it from the inside, as a man, and not from the approach of this iconic super villain that everybody knows. I felt I had a lot of freedom to find my version of the Joker. Q: Was it hard to find the right laugh for the Joker, and was it painful? JP: The second time I met Todd I wanted him to audition my laugh. He came to my house and sat on the couch. It took me several minutes to find that laugh. I didn’t want to fake it. It had to be genuine from the very first minute. At one point, he was really uncomfortable. It was weird. It was important to me that I could do it. And to be honest, it was more difficult than I thought. Then I tried to do it, and I struggled. It still wasn’t it, I didn’t have it. But I could feel there was the potential for something there. It took shooting for a couple weeks until we got it right. Q: Laughing is contagious. But your laughter is not… JP: Really, when I saw it, it was (laughs). You can see the pain in him when he was laughing. There is this other laugh, almost fake. Really, that’s something we didn’t anticipate would be coming out at all.