"Joker" Production Notes

About the Production

“My mother always tells me to smile and put on a happy face...”

—Arthur Fleck

It’s the early 1980s, and Gotham City is in turmoil. But there is no criminal underbelly at work, nor a mob overlord putting all at risk to serve his own interests. It’s a much more palpable concern for anyone living within the dystopian borders of this divided community of haves and havenots growing ever further apart, the tensions only exacerbated by a weeks-long garbage strike. Gotham is teetering on the edge of a fall; there is only the city and those who oversee it, and as in any municipality short of funding for the fundless, services designed to alleviate the difficulties of the disenfranchised are being cut. No, this is not the Gotham, nor the Joker, one would recognize from 80 years of established storytelling depicted on the page or screen. Rather, this is an original, standalone origin of this infamous character, the tale of an atmosphere of unrest fostering a man on the brink who, like his city—and likely, because of it—grows closer to the precipice: Arthur Fleck.

"Joker" in 70mm at the Grand Lake, Oakland, California, USA, 3. October, 2019. Picture by Theatre Manager Casey Foster.

Filmmaker Todd Phillips allows, “I love the complexity of Joker and felt his origin would be worth exploring on film, since nobody’s done that and even in the canon he has no formalized beginning. So, Scott Silver and I wrote a version of a complex and complicated character, and how he might evolve...and then devolve. That is what interested me—not a Joker story, but the story of becoming Joker.”

The film features just enough Gotham landmarks, deftly woven into its grimy landscape, to situate the audience and allow star Joaquin Phoenix’s hypnotically raw performance to evoke the requisite emotions to take this journey with Arthur through the city’s—and eventually his own—darker side. “One of the themes we wanted to explore with the movie is empathy and, more importantly, the lack of empathy that is present in so much of Arthur’s world,” Phillips states.

“For example,” he continues, “in the movie you see the difference in the way little kids and adults react to Arthur, because kids see the world through no lens; they don’t see rich versus poor or understand a marginalized individual the way adults do. They just see Arthur as a guy who’s trying to make them smile. It’s not inherent, we have to learn how to be unaccepting of others and, unfortunately, we usually do.” Silver says, “He starts out just wanting to make people laugh, trying to put a smile on their faces. That’s why he’s a clown, why he dreams of becoming a stand-up comic. He just wants to bring some joy into the world. But then the toxic environment of Gotham breaks him down—the lack of compassion and empathy, the loss of civility… That’s what creates our Joker.”

The Arthur that Phillips and Silver created is caught in a cyclical existence of misread cues. Even Arthur’s uncontrollable, inappropriate laughter, which gains momentum as he attempts to contain it, garners no sympathy from those he encounters in his daily life, exposing him to further ridicule and alienation from Gotham society. “Nowadays, what he has is a recognized syndrome, but in the time our story is set, it was not really diagnosed, though it was a real condition,” the filmmaker explains.

Phoenix concedes that, even during filming, “There were times when I found myself feeling for him, even feeling like I understood his motivation, and in the next moment I would be repulsed by the decisions he made. Playing this character was challenging for me as an actor, and I knew he would also challenge the audience and their preconceived ideas about the Joker, because in his fictional world, like in our real world, there are no easy answers.” “We often talk about the tip of the iceberg, but we rarely speak about what’s underneath—about what gets you there,” Phillips asserts. “Arthur is the guy you see on the street who you walk right past…or over. With this movie we’re hoping to get a peek at what’s below the surface.” It was those subjects, along with the filmmaker’s passion for his medium, that evoked the notion of not just any Joker movie, but this Joker movie. “I was inspired by the character studies that I watched when I was younger. The look, the vibe, the tone of those films made sense for this story.” To Phillips, that meant the 1970s and `80s, the era of such great films as “Serpico,” “Taxi Driver” and “Network.” He says, “We included a few elements from the canon and set it in a broken-down Gotham City around 1981, because that harkens back to that era and would remove it from the comic book world we’re so familiar with in film today.
 
Phillips not only cast Phoenix but wrote the part with him in mind. “Joaquin’s previous work always stuck with me, but what I really like about him is his style and his unpredictability, which we felt would very much fit into this character,” Phillips offers. “While other people are doing math, Joaquin is playing jazz. He’s just one of the greatest, he’s fearless; his work is brave and vulnerable, and I thought if we could get him, we could really do something special.” Though he’d resisted any sort of genre-inspired projects in the past, the actor was intrigued when he read the script. “I thought it was bold and complex and like nothing I’d ever read before. Todd has a unique way of looking at things that is really perfect, I think, for this movie,” Phoenix observes. “When I work with a director, I want somebody who has a singular take on the material, and nobody could have made this movie but Todd.”

Arthur’s tale is at once rich and spare in details, alternately focused and skewed. Crafted with Silver over the course of, as Phillips recalls, “a year in a little office in New York,” they began by determining a path to which such an ordinary man could become such an evil and notorious character. “In the version of the story we were telling, having a guy fall into a vat of acid didn’t work, while I think it’s interesting, so we tried running everything through a ‘real world’ lens,” he says. “To make sense in the world of our movie, we thought, ‘Well, why would he put this make-up on when he eventually becomes Joker? Where did he get this make-up and why does he have it? What if he’s a clown?’ “Then, of course, we had to ask ourselves why he’d work as a clown,” he continues, “which we determined was because his mother always told him he had to bring laughter and joy to the world. It all came together from there.”

In addition to the visual expectations that come with the character, there’s a distinct personality trait common across nearly 80 years of the comics and in every moving picture iteration, one which Phillips and Silver wanted to utilize in their storytelling: the classic unreliable narrator who can never fully be believed. “You have an intense amount of freedom with an unreliable narrator, and even more so when he’s Joker,” the director says of the famously deceptive reprobate, whose penchant for blending fact and fiction informs every frame of the film. “He even says in the comic book Batman: The Killing Joke, ‘If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.’ So, what really happened, and what you think he is by the end, just depends on the lens through which you watch the movie. You won’t walk away having all the answers and that’s what I think is intriguing about a character like this.” To accomplish all that he intended with “Joker,” Phillips and producing partner Bradley Cooper opted to conduct principal photography primarily in practical locations in and around the city that inspired Gotham itself: Phillips’ native New York City as well as neighboring New Jersey. To that end, they enlisted producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff, an expert on filming in the region with connections to the city’s strongest below-the-line talent. “Emma is one of the great New York producers and we were lucky to get her,” Phillips states.

In addition to handily pulling together and managing all aspects of the physical production, Tillinger Koskoff says, “Todd had a unique and inspired vision of how he wanted the film to look and feel. My role was to help facilitate that vision and create a supportive atmosphere for him, so that he could focus on the actors and concentrate on what was happening in any given scene. Todd and I were fortunate to work with a fantastic crew—New York’s very best. There was a level of trust and respect on our set that allowed him to work quickly and creatively. It was a privilege to watch Todd and Joaquin collaborate on this breathtaking film.”

Phillips’ creative team also included director of photography Lawrence Sher, this being their sixth film together; veteran production designer Mark Friedberg; costume designer Mark Bridges, who has worked several times with Phoenix; editor Jeff Groth, a regular collaborator; and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, who began sending pieces of score to Phillips based on script pages alone, before a frame of the film was even shot.

“It’s always incredible to be making a movie when you have such brilliant creative partners,” Phillips says, “and we really had the best there is on this film.” Those words could easily be used to describe his onscreen talent as well, beginning with what might literally qualify as dream casting for any filmmaker: Robert De Niro. The legendary actor appears as late-night TV host Murray Franklin, the closest thing Arthur has to a hero and, though a stranger, someone he views as a kindred spirit in comedy. As many aspiring comics would know, being called over to the couch after your set on a show like Murray’s is more than a game changer, it’s life-altering, and Arthur’s greatest wish...

“…She told me I had a purpose: to bring laughter and joy to the world.”

—Arthur Fleck
 

Cast & Characters

In an early scene in “Joker,” Arthur is meeting with a social worker, who asks him if it helps to have someone to talk to. Regardless of what his answer may be, it’s clear from the expression on Arthur’s face that she is not that someone. But it’s equally unclear who—if anyone—is. “Arthur is always struggling with what it is he wants to say and how he wants to say it,” says Phoenix. “His instincts just don’t fit with the accepted standard of conversation or interaction…or anything, really.”

Why he is the way he is will not always remain a mystery to Arthur, Phillips allows, but when we first meet him, he says, “Arthur is this guy who’s very much like, ‘I’m going to be the person you want me to be. I’m going to be proper, I’m going to take the bus and sit here quietly and not interact,’ and so forth.” But, like a dog that’s been kicked repeatedly by its owner, sooner or later “this time” will be the last time. “There’s always an inner part of him that has to try to be true to himself, to who he is becoming, and over the course of the story we see it coming out, little by little.”

The truth of Arthur is complex. He attempts to do stand-up, his dream vocation and one for which he prepares by watching other comics, hoping to catch their tone and timing and adopt it for his own. Hoping that he, like they, will captivate an audience with witty observations and find an even larger form of acceptance in their applause. “Unfortunately, how he sees the world and, frankly, what he thinks is funny don’t really work,” Phoenix describes. “He doesn’t understand their kind of humor and he isn’t able to mimic it, either.”

Servicing the self-fulfilling prophecy of his mother’s “Happy” appellation for him and long before Arthur musters the courage to try his hand on the comedy club stage, we find him at his day job as a clown-for-hire via a service called Ha-Ha’s. The job takes him to various parts of the city, but no matter where he goes, the walk home inevitably entails a haul up a lengthy flight of outdoor stairs.

Steps, both physical and metaphorical, factor into Arthur’s world with regularity, from the ones he climbs to the steps he takes to apply his Happy make-up. Both are just indicators of the many more steps he will take as he metamorphoses into his true self over the course of the film.

Much of that character building came about through Phoenix’s preparations for the role, taking a cerebral preparation and turning it corporal. In the film, on the advice of his social worker, Arthur keeps a journal, which also contains his drawings, prose and imaginings. Throughout pre-production, Phoenix himself made several entries. The actor states, “I was writing in Arthur’s journal when Todd sent me a note about the set of steps in the story. That inspired me to write ‘step after step after step,’ over and over and line by line across the pages, and then it became something we’d text to each other.”

In the beginning of the film, we see the wilted way Arthur carries himself as he ascends the stairs, building on another idea Phillips implanted in Phoenix, that Arthur walks with “heavy shoes,” carrying the weight of the world with him. When he later descends them, however, we see not only a very different Arthur, but a wholly different carriage. No matter the preparation, Phillips observes, “All the preparation disappears into the performance. Joaquin is so methodical about it that there’s not one moment where you see him switch from Arthur to Joker, it’s all done with a very measured pace.” Another part of the actor’s dedication to Arthur’s presentation was to drop 52 pounds, by consuming little more than an apple a day. Phillips confesses it was his idea, stating, “I wanted the character to look hungry and unhealthy, like a malnourished wolf.”

Phoenix and Phillips developed a close relationship during filming as they worked to discover and define the finer points of Arthur’s dual nature. With careful consideration over the course of the story and a traditionally unreliable narrator like Joker setting the scene to emerge from within the chrysalis of this socially awkward and increasingly desperate man, they left the very truth of Arthur Fleck’s story open to interpretation, like Arthur’s own experience. “There were times when I thought Arthur would enjoy altering his story because of the effect it would have on how someone might feel about him, and there were other times where I thought he’d alter it because it’s what he really believes,” the actor offers. “Usually with characters that is frustrating, not understanding their motives; but with this character it became liberating, realizing it could go in any direction. Working with Todd on a scene, if we didn’t find a surprising way of exploring it in the moment, we felt like we weren’t doing it right.”

Those discussions continued throughout production and long after each day’s filming wrapped. “After we finished shooting, we would call or text for hours and talk about the next day’s scenes, and on weekends we would meet and go over scenes we were shooting that week,” Phoenix remembers. “I felt like we were so unified throughout the process; if one of us ever got to the point where we weren’t feeling inspired, we trusted the other one to inspire them, and that was really satisfying.”

Arthur lives with his frail mother, Penny Fleck, and devotes himself to caring for her. Penny resides in their tiny apartment, but in truth she lives in her own world, despite his company. Her focus is split between the TV and all that is wrong with Gotham, writing letters to Thomas Wayne. Having worked for him 30 years ago, she’s certain the wealthy businessman considering a run for mayor would help her out if he only knew of her current circumstances. Veteran actress Frances Conroy, who plays the rather delicate woman, admired the dedicated Phoenix, noting, “He is quiet, he is at one with his role and with the other actor in the scene.” It’s almost as if, she adds, “I know Arthur, not Joaquin. He is the character only, he leaves himself behind and lives only in the reality of the scene.”

Joker in Berlin. Picture by Gerhard Witte

Raised almost solely by his narcissistic mother, Arthur both struggles to be seen and is painfully aware that he’s invisible to most, even to his mother, who still calls him Happy though he probably never has been. Arthur longs to relate to someone, anyone, and for acknowledgement, recognition that leads to validation. He and Penny watch “Live with Murray Franklin” together nightly, and he dreams of earning a spot on the program. A nod from the man himself is all a comic needs to make it in Gotham. But a seasoned pro like Murray will go for the laugh every time...at anyone’s expense.

Robert De Niro plays the role of Franklin, an amalgam of real-life past hosts from Joe Franklin to Johnny Carson. Phoenix recalls their first day together on the set, during which he and De Niro had a lengthy scene to film. “You have this fantasy that you’re going to ask him all these questions because, of course, he’s Robert De Niro. You’re so excited when that opportunity comes your way, but then you realize you have a nine-page scene and there’s no time and no chance you’re going to be able to ask him all the things you want to.”

Phillips took a very different approach when first meeting the icon. “I had gone to his office before we shot and I said to him very clearly, ‘Listen. I’ve got to spend ten minutes just talking about all these questions I have for you, and then I swear I will be a professional.’ And we ended up going for at least 20 minutes, and it was great.”

In his quest for an emotional connection, Arthur also dreams of his neighbor Sophie Dumond. He has a crush on her, but it’s the kind of puppy love that has him watching for a glimpse of her.

Zazie Beetz, who plays the single mom of a five-year-old girl, says, “Sophie and her daughter live down the hall from the Flecks, and she encounters Arthur in the elevator, places like that, as you would. She’s raising her child on her own and probably has a tough time. She can see, though, that he has difficulty interacting with people and seems somewhat insecure, so she tolerates him and is nice, and she smiles at Arthur like you do with any neighbor.” Beetz thoroughly enjoyed working with Phoenix, stating, “I’ve been a really huge fan of Joaquin’s work for a long time and I think he’s one of the best actors of this generation.” With equal praise for Phillips, she adds, “I’d never really had an experience like this one before. It was so incredibly collaborative.” Brett Cullen also stars as mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne, a lone father figure Arthur attempts to connect with only to be rejected at every turn. And Douglas Hodge is Alfred Pennyworth, Wayne’s hired man who protects the manor interests great and small from the likes of someone like Arthur. Rounding out the impressive cast are Shea Whigam and Bill Camp as GCPD detectives Burke and Garrity; Glenn Fleshler as Randall and Leigh Gill as Gary, Arthur’s fellow clowns at Ha-Ha’s, where Josh Pais plays his boss, Hoyt Vaughn; Brian Tyree Henry as Arkham Clerk Carl; and Marc Maron as The Murray Franklin Show producer, Gene Ufland. Real-life comics Gary Gulman and Sam Morril appear as stand-ups in scenes at a comedy club.

“Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?”

—Arthur Fleck

Production Design / Locations / Camera

~ Becoming Joker ~

“I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it’s a comedy.”

—Joker

To interpret the many themes explored throughout the film, Phillips very early on turned to composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. “Hildur was writing music as far back as pre-production,” Phillips recalls. “I was sending her script pages and she was writing music before we even shot, and what she did for the film is so unique.”

Guðnadóttir says, “Todd asked me to write some music based on my feelings from reading the script, which I was inspired to do because it truly resonated with me.” She sent him a sample and recalls, “He thought that I had really captured the atmosphere of the movie.” What struck the composer the most, she says, “was Arthur, this character with a kind of multi-dimensional simplicity, so openhearted and childlike, who is just trying so hard to fit in. But his circumstances and how people react to him don’t really allow for that to happen. Musically, that translated to melodies that are very simple and monotonic, because that’s kind of the way he is seeing things. Then I tried to expand within that simplicity the orchestration around it not with chords or any complicated music, but with texture that I felt resonated with the melancholia of his character.” Her composition features the cello as the centerpiece of the score, leading the very string-based melodies. Guðnadóttir reveals, “There is often a whole symphony orchestra of 90 musicians playing the same thing, but it’s hidden behind the cello. I felt that went well with the character, he is seen in this certain way and there are many layers of complication behind him, but he doesn’t see it. I thought orchestrating it that way, so that instruments are not always audible, you will think you’re just listening to one cello but, like Arthur, there are layers behind it.”

Guðnadóttir began work so early that Phillips was able to introduce it during production and brought a piece to Phoenix just a few weeks into filming as a means of inspiring his work in a pivotal scene, one in which the audience will see the first hint of things to come. “Joaquin and I were on the set and at a standstill,” the director relates. “We hadn’t really figured out the scene, but then I remembered I’d just gotten this great piece of music from Hildur that I’d been listening to the night before. I played it for him, he loved it, and he just started doing this slow dance to it, and out of nowhere this gracefulness comes out of Arthur, the emergence of his shadow. We started filming him, and that became the beginning of his transformation.” Phoenix attests, “Todd started playing this cello music, and it was really effective. I said, ‘So, maybe there’s a movement,’ and he said, ‘Well, I would start on your foot—that’s your move.’ That’s all he said and all we had. The preparation was in studying movement and dance during rehearsals, but what came out of that piece of score was a turning point for the character, and for me and Todd working together…and understanding Arthur.”
 

About the Cast

About the Filmmakers