Movies & TV / News
Joaquin Phoenix Studied Pathological Laughter For Joker
Joaquin Phoenix’s maniacal laugh in Joker has been one of the highlights of the trailers, and Phoenix did research to get it right. Phoenix spoke with Italian magazine Il Venerdi (thanks to CBR for the translation) about his role in the film, and said that he began forming the character around Joker’s iconic laugh and said that he studied a real-life neurological disorder to get it right.
“I started [with the laugh],” Phoenix explained. “I watched videos of people suffering from pathological laughter, a neurological disorder that makes individuals laugh uncontrollably.”
Phoenix stars in the film alongside Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, and Marc Maron. The Todd Pillips-directed film opens at TIFF and the Venice Film Festival before hitting theaters on October 4th.
