These actors weren’t clowning around when playing the famous Clown Prince of Crime.
The Clown Prince of Crime and the Dark Knight: is there any comic book villain and hero pairing that is more iconic? Batman made his comic book debut in 1939, and the Joker followed in 1940. Over the ensuing 85 years, the duo has clashed repeatedly in the pages of DC Comics.
The Joker has also become one of the most sought-after roles in the realm of comic book adaptations, and several notable actors have played the fiendish supervillain on screen, both big and small. Here are the five best live-action Joker performances, ranked from worst to best.
5) Jared Leto in Suicide Squad and Zack Snyder’s Justice League
The casting of the Joker in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) was widely anticipated — the actor would be playing the archnemesis of Ben Affleck’s incarnation of Batman. Hype was naturally drummed up for this Joker’s eventual debut. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Joker’s existence is teased in the form of a memorial in the Batcave to Robin, whom Joker had killed.
Oscar winner Jared Leto was then cast as the Joker, making his first appearance in 2016’s Suicide Squad.
While audiences embraced Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the Joker’s paramour, Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, they largely rejected Leto as the Joker. The heavily tattooed, often-shirtless look, combined with exaggerated but stilted mannerisms and a wheezing laugh, made it seem like Leto was just trying too hard. The movie was also heavily re-edited, and many of Leto’s scenes didn’t make the final cut, with the Joker being more of a minor supporting character than anything else. Director David Ayer has long maintained that his cut of the movie is better than what was released.
Stories of Leto’s behind-the-scenes antics, including sending Robbie a live rat and gifting X-rated items to his other co-stars, painted him as annoying rather than transgressive and daring. Still, that didn’t stop Leto from reprising his role as the Joker in the post-apocalyptic ‘Knightmare’ portion of Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
4) Cesar Romero in Batman
While many modern-day fans are dismissive of Cesar Romero’s portrayal of the Joker, respect must be paid to the first actor to play the role in live action. In his younger years, Romero often played dashing ‘Latin Lover’ types but is now best known for playing the Joker in the live-action Batman TV series that premiered in 1966 and the movie spinoff that was released the same year.
Romero’s portrayal is whimsical and silly and not especially nuanced, in line with the tone of the TV show. While later movie versions of Joker are darker and more sinister, Romero’s Joker is very much that of the charmingly goofy Silver Age of comics. A defining characteristic of this Joker is that Romero reportedly refused to shave his moustache, so white makeup is just painted atop it and said moustache is often noticeable.
3) Joaquin Phoenix in Joker and Joker: Folie à Deux
The 2019 Joker movie presented audiences with a new version of the character: Arthur Fleck, a downtrodden professional clown struggling with mental illness. Mocked and bullied, he finally takes matters into his own hands with violent results.
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker is set in the 1980s and is inspired by Martin Scorsese’s psychological thrillers from around that time, including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The King of Comedy. Robert De Niro, who starred in all three, also appears in Joker as the talk show host Murray Franklin.
The film was a lightning rod for controversy, with some voicing concern that it could inspire disenfranchised viewers who identified with Arthur to commit violent acts.
Regardless, Joker marked the first time that the eponymous character appeared in a movie separate from Batman (though Dante Pereira-Olson plays a young Bruce Wayne) and gave him a sympathetic backstory that almost made you want to root for him. Phoenix’s drastic physical transformation and his disturbing, captivating portrayal of a man unravelling earned him critical acclaim, ultimately winning him the Oscar for Best Actor.
Phoenix reprises the role in Joker: Folie à Deux, with Lady Gaga joining him as Lee Quinzel/Harley Quinn. The idea is that this isn’t the Joker whom Batman fights, but that Arthur inspires someone else to take on the mantle and perhaps become Batman’s archnemesis in this reality.
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Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck institutionalised at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes. Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
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2) Jack Nicholson in Batman
In 1989, director Tim Burton’s Batman took the world by storm, igniting ‘Batmania’. The filmmaker was determined to distance the movie from the 1966 TV series, creating a dark, stylised version of Gotham City partially inspired by 1930s German Expressionist films. Starring opposite Michael Keaton as Batman was Jack Nicholson as the Joker. As the lead of movies like Easy Rider, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Chinatown, Nicholson brought ‘serious actor’ credibility to the role.
Nicholson’s Joker is patterned after gangsters in old Hollywood movies, and this version of the Joker is a criminal named Jack Napier who falls into a vat of acid. Now sporting bleached skin, green hair, and a permanent grin, he vies for control of Gotham’s criminal underworld.
Nicholson gives his Joker a sardonic sense of humour and a menacing air, making his portrayal of the character exceptionally memorable. For his part, Nicholson profited handsomely, earning around US$90 million; his lucrative contract included a US$6 million upfront payment and a percentage of the final box office gross and profits from Joker-related merchandise.
1) Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Batman Begins ends with one of the most exciting teases for a sequel ever: Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) shows Batman (Christian Bale) a playing card recovered from a crime scene. It’s a joker. Who could play the iconic villain in the sequel? Who could fill Nicholson’s shoes?
Director Christopher Nolan chose Heath Ledger, sparking immediate backlash. The young Australian heartthrob, then best known for Brokeback Mountain, 10 Things I Hate About You, and A Knight’s Tale, seemed a far cry from what most Batman fans had in mind.
Ledger’s take on the character would go on to become the stuff of legend. His Joker is not given a definitive backstory (no vat of acid here), making him even more terrifying. An anarchic figure who takes sadistic glee at throwing Gotham City into chaos and commits acts of terrorism to upend social order, this Joker makes for a formidable opponent. He’s the id to Batman’s ego, the yin to the yang, an unstoppable force clashing against an immovable object.
Ledger took inspiration from Malcolm McDowell’s portrayal of Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. He was also inspired by musicians including Sid Vicious, Iggy Pop, and Tom Waits, giving this version of the Joker a bit of a rock star vibe.
He tragically died of an accidental prescription medication overdose in January 2008, six months before The Dark Knight was released. While some claim that immersing himself in the role drove Ledger over the edge, his friends and family deny this, and Ledger was already working on his next film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Ledger was awarded a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in The Dark Knight.
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With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organised crime in Gotham for good.
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