The 45-year-old Joaquin Phoenix has been nominated during his career for four Academy Awards: one for every lead role in Joker, The Master and Walk the Line, and one for his supporting performance in Gladiator.
The revisionist comic book series stars Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a social outcast whose broken dreams of being a hit comedian leads him down a dark path to the notorious Batman villain.
Phoenix’s Oscar makes him the second actor to win an Academy Award for portraying the Joker after Heath Ledger, who won the Best Supporting Actor award for playing the character in “The Dark Knight” by Christopher Nolan.
“Joker’s received a total of 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, making it the most nominated film in the 92nd Academy Awards.
The movie has won two statuettes with phoenix’s win: Joker composer Hildur won the Oscar for best original score.
The star dominated the Awards season with a clean sweep, picking up Golden Globes Best Actor trophies, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Critic’s Choice Awards and the BAFTAs. In addition to his victories, Phoenix hit the headlines for his industry-pushing discourses of tolerance in which he called out Hollywood for lack of inclusiveness.
Phoenix in his acceptance speech said, “I feel concerned because so many of my deserving fellow actors don’t have the same luxury,” Phoenix said while accepting his BAFTA. “I think we’re sending a very clear message that you’re not welcome here to people of colour.
I guess that’s the message we’re giving to people who have made so much of a difference to our platform and business and in ways we’re benefiting from”.
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“I don’t think anyone wants a handout or preferential treatment, though that’s what we offer each year to ourselves. I think people just want to have their work noticed, acknowledged and valued. This isn’t a self-righteous indictment because I feel ashamed to say I’m part of the issue.
I haven’t done everything I could to make sure the sets I’m working on are inclusive, but I hope that’s more than just making multicultural sets” He added.
He went on to say it’s the ‘obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it. So its upon us.
People often describe Joker as a ‘ startling, threatening, incredibly beautiful vision of an inhuman set alight universe ‘ and “Our 2019 Film”.