Todd Phillips Reveals How Much Weight Joaquin Phoenix Lost for 'Joker'

Though Todd Phillips’ Joker doesn’t come out until Oct. 4, anyone can already see from the trailers alone that Joaquin Phoenix fully committed to his role as Batman’s most infamous villain.

So much so, in fact, that he went through the strenuous physical challenge of losing a significant amount of weight for the role…52 pounds to be exact, according to the director.

Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian who descends into madness and finds his new identity as the Joker. Though Phoenix wholeheartedly played the complex character, it wasn’t without reservations, previously admitting he was fearful of the role at first.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Phillips explained that it took four months to get Phoenix on board, as he didn’t want to play a role--especially a comic book role--that had already been done so well by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. And as ComicBook.com reports, this interview also reveals that Phoenix dropped 52 pounds for the part when he eventually committed.

Phoenix now joins the ranks of Jared Leto, Christian Bale, and Matthew McConaughey, among others, all of whom have lost an extreme amount of weight for films.