Adithya Seshadri
Joker is probably the greatest movie character of the millennium so far and most of its credit goes to the informal portrayal of the character by Heath Ledger. Unpredictable, weirdly funny, highly calculative yet unimaginably chaotic, Heath Ledger brought on-screen one of the most complex comic book characters and in the due process lost his life due to depression and drug abuse. I bet that no one, not in this decade, not in this century, can outperform Heath Ledger’s Joker. But they’ll be compared, scrutinized and heavily criticized for smallest of things like what happened to Jared Leto.
It’s almost certain that Martin Scorsese is going to produce a Joker Origins movie and although actors have been approached no concrete news has been received. So, we at Cinemaholic, have put together a list of actors who we deem suitable for the prestigious role:
10. Nicolas Cage
Remember Face/Off? The character wasn’t similar to that of Joker’s but it was a role that had action, humour and horror. He could pull off that role with flying colours. He is an actor stereotyped for positive protagonist roles and hence his acting talent in the darker spectrum remains unexplored. Also a Joker older than Batman would be an interesting touch.
9. Edward Norton
Edward Norton is a great actor. Remember American History X and Primal Fear. He might be tough to work with but is definitely one of the most committing actors of this generation and like Ledger would probably lock himself in a hotel room for a month. Commitment aside, he is slim, with a long face and an obnoxiously confusing pair of eyes. I would be excited to watch him play the role.
8. Adrien Brody
Adrien Brody had a dream beginning to his career. He was one of the initial choices to play the role in TDK because of his recent success and having won an Academy Award (also the youngest actor to win a Best Actor Academy). But he lost to Ledger but now he is more experienced having played variety of roles. He is an actor with great potential and if you still doubt it watch “The Pianist”.
7. Christian Bale
Ha Ha!!! Now I have an evil smile. Is there any rule that an actor who played Batman shouldn’t play Joker? Especially if its Christian inhumane Bale. The closest character on celluloid to the Joker is Patrick Bateman. Well, won’t that gore smile be sufficient. Obviously, he can shred weight to look like Joker and an additional perk is he is of the same age as Affleck.
6. Daniel Day-Lewis
This may come as a surprise to you. Yes, he is old. Yes, he has quit acting. But he is the epitome of acting, the pinnacle of method acting. When DDL takes a role, he owns it. He can play a villain better than most on the celluloid and with the variety and commitment that he has shown towards his roles, there is no doubting his capability. Oh, DDL!! Come back once, just once!!
5. Willem Dafoe
I don’t want this to happen anymore than the internet. There is a close resemblance between the comic joker’s face and Dafoe’s. He is 60, but he still has the energy inside him. A man with truckloads of talent, he has already proved us that he can play a negative role with great finesse through Green Goblin. Yes, that was years ago. But he has become more experienced from then and I request the makers to at least consider him.
4. Robert Knepper
This might be the most unusual choice in the list but if you have watched “Prison Break”, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. I don’t know how they missed him, while casting for the Joker In TDK. PB had already finished airing a season, when they were casting and this man at the very least deserved a consideration. T-Bag is like the television version of Joker and let the makers consider him this time at least.
3. James Franco
Although he doesn’t have much experience under his belt, he has one or two skills under his sleeve. For starters, he is one of the youngest method actors on Celluloid and he stays truly committed for his role. Secondly, he has already proved his mettle in a good to bad guy transformation in Spiderman and finally he could give the character a humorous touch than anyone else in the list.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio
When there were speculations on the news that Leo had been approached to play the Joker, the internet crowd was split among those who welcomed it and those who felt he couldn’t do justice to the character. All said and done, you certainly couldn’t ignore the fact that Leo Is the best actor of this generation. Despite portraying good guys he also showed his mettle as a villain in Django Unchained. In my opinion, I feel Leo will pull this role off with flying colours.
1. Jake Gyllenhaal
Topping the list of such legends and veterans needs talent and prowess and Jake has just that. He has played a plethora of roles including an author, an army officer, a narcissistic villain, a boxer and a gay lover. His recent role of a blast victim earned him praises from all over. There is no one in this world who deserves the role more than he does for he has tonnes of talent unexploited and this is the role that’ll make him explore his unseen charts.
