Joker Cast (2019)
Warner Bros. Pictures | Psychological Thriller, Crime, Drama | 122 min | Directed by Todd Phillips
Joker is a 2019 psychological thriller and character study written and directed by Todd Phillips and co-written by Scott Silver. Set in a fictionalised, decaying Gotham City in the early 1980s, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian and part-time clown with mental illness, whose downward spiral into violence transforms him into the criminal known as the Joker. The film won the Golden Lion at Venice and Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. It was the highest-grossing R-rated film in cinema history upon release, grossing over $1 billion worldwide.
The Joker cast is built almost entirely around Joaquin Phoenix's extraordinary central performance, one of the most physically and psychologically committed portrayals in recent superhero-adjacent cinema. Phoenix lost a significant amount of weight for the role and developed Arthur's distinctive, involuntary laugh as a genuine bodily expression of character. Robert De Niro provides pointed meta-commentary as Murray Franklin, a talk-show host whose condescension toward Arthur echoes the dynamic of De Niro's own role in Scorsese's The King of Comedy — a deliberate inversion that Todd Phillips acknowledged as intentional. Zazie Beetz brings warmth and ambiguity to Sophie, Arthur's neighbour and perceived romantic interest. Frances Conroy delivers a delicate, faded performance as Arthur's mother Penny, whose fragility and delusions mirror her son's own fractured reality. Brett Cullen's Thomas Wayne is a cold, patrician Gotham businessman whose attitude toward Arthur sets the film's political undercurrents in motion. Shea Whigham and Bill Camp form an effective investigative duo as the detectives closing in on the clown killings.
Main Cast
Joaquin Phoenix
Arthur Fleck / Joker
A mentally ill, failed stand-up comedian and part-time clown whose series of humiliations and tragedies push him toward becoming a symbol of chaos.
Robert De Niro
Murray Franklin
A popular Gotham City late-night talk show host who mocks Arthur's comedy routine on air, becoming a figure of Arthur's obsession and fury.
Zazie Beetz
Sophie Dumond
Arthur's neighbour and single mother, whose relationship with Arthur is more ambiguous than it initially appears.
Frances Conroy
Penny Fleck
Arthur's fragile, delusional mother who once worked for Thomas Wayne and whose secrets fuel the film's central dramatic revelation.
Brett Cullen
Thomas Wayne
A wealthy Gotham businessman and political candidate whose cold disdain for the city's poor becomes a catalyst for social unrest.
Shea Whigham
Detective Garrity
A Gotham City detective who investigates the series of clown-masked killings and comes increasingly close to Arthur.
Bill Camp
Detective Burke
Garrity's partner on the investigation into the subway killings, equally determined to find the killer.
Glenn Fleshler
Randall
A co-worker at Hapo's clown agency who provides Arthur with a gun and later becomes a target of Arthur's paranoia.
Marc Maron
Gene Ufland
Murray Franklin's comedy show producer, who invites Arthur onto the programme after the viral video of his stand-up set spreads.
Supporting & Recurring Cast
| Actor | Character | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dante Pereira-Olson | Young Bruce Wayne | Thomas Wayne's young son, future Batman | Wayne Manor scenes |
| Douglas Hodge | Alfred Pennyworth | The Wayne family butler who confronts Arthur at Wayne Manor | Wayne Manor scene |
| Josh Pais | Hoyt Vaughan | Arthur's supervisor at the clown agency | Early workplace scenes |
| Brian Tyree Henry | Carl | Employee at the Gotham City Department of Health | Social services scenes |
| Leigh Gill | Gary | Arthur's small-statured co-worker at the clown agency, treated with more kindness by Arthur than others | Workplace scenes |
| Hannah Gross | Young Penny Fleck | A younger version of Penny, seen in archive footage within the film | Archival sequence |
| Sharon Washington | Social Worker | Arthur's case worker at the social services office | Social services scenes |
| Rocco Luna | Ramirez (bully on bus) | One of the boys on the bus who taunts Arthur early in the film | Bus scene |
Creators & Production
Todd Phillips
Director & Co-Writer
Scott Silver
Co-Writer (Screenplay)
Todd Phillips
Producer
Bradley Cooper
Producer
Emma Tillinger Koskoff
Producer
Lawrence Sher
Cinematographer
Jeff Groth
Film Editor
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Composer (Academy Award winner)
About the Joker Cast
Joaquin Phoenix was, by all accounts, the decisive factor in greenlit of the Joker project. Todd Phillips has acknowledged that the film was built specifically around Phoenix's interest, and that the script was developed in close collaboration with the actor. Phoenix's physical transformation — dropping approximately 52 pounds for the role — is visible on screen in every frame, and his rendering of Arthur Fleck's uncomfortable, involuntary laugh as a kind of physical suffering is one of the performance's most discussed elements. He has described working with the laugh as a process of discovery, finding a specific quality that was simultaneously disturbing and pitiable. Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 92nd Oscars, his first competitive Oscar win, for a role that was considered virtually certain from the time the film premiered at Venice and claimed the festival's highest prize, the Golden Lion.
The casting of Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin was widely read as a deliberate nod to Martin Scorsese's films, particularly The King of Comedy (1982), in which De Niro played a deluded fan who kidnaps a talk show host, and Taxi Driver (1976), with its alienated urban loner protagonist. In Joker the roles are inverted: De Niro is the late-night king whose casual cruelty toward Arthur mirrors the dismissiveness once directed at De Niro's own characters. Hildur Gudnadottir's score — composed largely before filming began, with Phoenix said to have listened to it on set — won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, adding to the film's haul. The film's extraordinary commercial success at over $1 billion worldwide on a $55 million budget made it one of the highest-return films in Warner Bros. history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who stars in Joker (2019)?
Joker (2019) stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, the failed stand-up comedian who becomes the Joker, alongside Robert De Niro as talk show host Murray Franklin and Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond.
Who plays the Joker in the 2019 film?
Joaquin Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, who becomes the Joker. Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role at the 92nd Oscars.
Who directed Joker (2019)?
Joker (2019) was directed by Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film won the Golden Lion at the 76th Venice Film Festival.
When was Joker (2019) released?
Joker was released in the United States on October 4, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time upon its release.
Who plays Thomas Wayne in Joker?
Brett Cullen plays Thomas Wayne, a wealthy and politically ambitious Gotham City businessman whose relationship to Arthur Fleck becomes a central and disturbing thread of the film.
Is there a sequel to Joker (2019)?
Yes. Joker: Folie à Deux was released in October 2024, again directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. It was a commercial and critical disappointment compared to the original.
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