8 Crazy Things That Went On Behind The Scenes During Making Of Joaquin Phoenix's Iconic 'Joker'

As a cinema-lover, it's only once in a lifetime that you get to watch something as iconic as Joaquin Phoenix's performance in Joker. The latest offering from Warner Bros. has smashed all box office records and minted USD 93.5 million over the weekend.

Today, it stands as the biggest October launch of all time.

Variety reports that the film which garnered controversy for portraying violence scored USD 93.5 million over the weekend. The ticket sale surpassed the benchmark previously set by Sony's superhero tentpole Venom which earned USD 80 million.

Directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, had been the subject of scrutiny in the weeks leading up to its release over fears that the disturbing origin story of Batman's infamous foe could inspire violence, reported Variety.

Despite constant scrutiny and criticism, the film won rave reviews and inspired more positive headlines over apprehensions of the ones who questioned the depiction of a mentally ill assassin. The trailer of the film further prompted movie theatres across the country to take extra security precautions but did it affect the sales?

Well, it's a clear no! Nothing seems to have deterred the moviegoers and a major credit goes to Phoenix' performance.

To build a character as thought-provoking and striking as Joker, a lot went down behind the making of this film.

1. Late actor and performer Ray Bolger influenced Joker's dance moves in the movie.

"There was a particular song called 'The Old Soft Shoe' that he performed and I saw a video of it and there's this odd arrogance almost to his movements and, really, I completely just stole it from him," Joaquin said. "He does this thing of turning his chin up. This choreographer, Michael Arnold, showed me that and tons of videos and I zeroed in on that one. 'That was Joker, right?' There's an arrogance to him, really. That was probably the greatest influence. But also disco," Phoenix added.

2. In a New York Times profile of Phoenix earlier this month, director Todd Phillips spoke about how the actor would walk out of the set in the middle of a scene.

In a cover story on the 44-year-old actor in The New York Times, Phillips revealed that they had several fruitful creative differences over the character, one of the most iconic and complex villains in the Batman lore. Phillips said Phoenix "lost his composure on the set, sometimes to the bafflement of his co-stars". "In the middle of the scene, he'll just walk away and walk out. And the poor other actor thinks it's them and it was never them ¡ª it was always him, and he just wasn't feeling it," he told The New York Times. Phoenix, however, would always return after taking a break. "We'll take a walk and we'll come back and we'll do it," is what Phoenix told Phillips after a particularly tense moment.

3. Reading Fleck's journal and book of jokes helped Joaquin get in to the skin of the Joker.

¡°Very early on in the rehearsal, I was given the journal that he had¡ªhis journal and joke diary. And that was really helpful, because I had been there for a couple of weeks and wasn't sure how I was going to start, and Todd [Phillips, director] sent this [empty] journal,¡± he explained. ¡°I didn't know what to write, so I asked [Todd] for some suggestions, and after a few days, I ignored his suggestions and suddenly it was coming out. It became a really important part of the discovery of the character at that time.¡±

4. Phoenix stayed away from all the past portrayals of Joker.

Joaquin Phoenix said his approach towards the "Joker" role was to just stay away from the past portrayals and develop his own performance, something that was also a key motivating factor in his decision to come aboard the film.

"For me the attraction to make this film was we were going to approach it in our own way. I didn't refer to any past iterations of (the Joker). It just felt like our own creations, which was really important to me and the key to it. I wanted the freedom to create something that wasn't identifiable. This is a fictional character, and I didn't want a psychiatrist to be able to identify the kind of person he was. We were getting into medication and what issues he might have, but (I thought) let's step away from that. We want to have the room to create what we want," the actor said, talking to PTI.

5. Joaquin Phoenix says he based the signature laughter of iconic DC villain The Joker on a neurological disorder known as Pathological Laughter and Crying (PLC).

The condition is characterised by inappropriate and involuntary laughing and crying due to a nervous system disorder. Phoenix said he watched videos of people suffering from the condition as part of his preparation. "I started (with the laugh). I watched videos of people suffering from pathological laughter, a neurological disorder that makes individuals laugh uncontrollably," the actor told Italian magazine Il Venerdi.

6. Phoenix lost a whopping 52 pounds and the transformation took a toll on him.

The actor revealed that he developed a 'disorder' and became 'obsessed' with his new weight, reported E! News. Phoenix opened up about how shedding the weight took a toll on him, revealing that it became a "disorder" for him. "Once you reach the target weight, everything changes. Like so much of what's difficult is waking up every day and being obsessed over like 0.3 pounds. Right? And you really develop like a disorder," the Oscar nominee said. But in light of the physical and mental challenges of losing so much weight, Phoenix said that it was necessary for him to have a delicate frame as it helped carry out the iconic comic book villain's movements and mannerisms.

7. Joaquin Phoenix gave the entire film crew personalised gifts and it is not what you think!

The Redditor known as SilverbackBRC triggered the conversation by posting a picture of himself on set, writing, ¡°I was a lighting technician on Joker. Had to put on a wig and full costume for 8 days and then ended up being right outside of frame in the final cut, haha. Just wanted someone to enjoy my 70's look.¡± Following this, in a series of now-deleted comments, he further claimed himself to be a lighting technician on Joker and wrote that Joaquin Phoenix gave the entire film crew personalised gifts. The comments by Boy Genius Report (BGR), the unnamed technician wrote, Phoenix gifted everyone on the crew a copy of his joke book from the movie. But here's a twist! Instead of jokes, the books were full of writing about "how the movie was gonna suck, and it was all of our fault." However, the redditor added that it was "clearly a joke and the best wrap gift I've ever gotten in my career." He did post a picture from the sets of Joker but that now stands deleted. Do you think it's believable? Well!

8. Actor Joaquin Phoenix felt ¡°a little embarrassed¡± by his diva behaviour on the sets of Joker.

During an interview with host Jimmy Kimmel, the actor was surprised by an outtake from his movie Joker sent over to Kimmel's show by director Todd Phillips. The video showed an annoyed Phoenix snapping at the film's cinematographer Lawrence Sher. Clad in his Joker get-up (green hair, clown make-up), Phoenix is seen telling Sher to stop distracting him. ¡°The constant whispering,¡± he said in the clip. ¡°Just shut the f**k up, dude. I'm trying to find something real.¡± In response, Sher calls him Cher, poking fun at his diva-like behaviour, reports eonline.com. ¡°It's not even an insult,¡± Phoenix said of the new nickname. ¡°Cher, really? She's a singer, actor, dancer, fashion icon. How is that a f**king insult?¡± He then proceeded to storm off set and away from the camera.

After the short video was shown, the actor was visibly flustered. ¡°This is so embarrassing,¡± Phoenix told Kimmel. ¡°Sometimes movies get intense because you're a lot of people in a small space and you're trying to find something, so it can feel intense.¡± ¡°That was supposed to be private. I'm a little embarrassed, I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry you guys had to see that.¡±

Apart from Phoenix, the movie also features Robert De Niro, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham. The film released in India by Warner Bros. Pictures on October 2.