Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix praises Heath Ledger in SAG acceptance speech

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Joaquin Phoenix is certainly a, shall we say, unique individual? He definitely didn't have your typical childhood. Born Joaquin Bottom, his parents were members of a religious cult called the Children of God until he was three. They then moved back to the United States in the late 1970s and changed their last name to Phoenix after the mythical bird. Phoenix then began calling himself "Leaf" to fall in line with the nature quality of his brothers and sisters: River, Rain, Summer, and Liberty. Leaf Phoenix was actually the name he went by when he made his feature film debut at the age of twelve in 1986's SPACECAMP.

Perhaps it is Joaquin Phoenix's early life that defined his adult quirkiness. He's notoriously offbeat in his interviews (just ask Anderson Cooper) and once famously asked a reporter if he had a frog in his hair. The sequence in JOKER where he shuts himself in a refrigerator was completely out of left field and improvised. Not even Todd Phillips knew he was going to do it. This quirkiness culminated in Casey Affleck's 2010 "documentary" I'M STILL HERE where Phoenix "quit acting" to pursue a rap career. The whole affair was bizarre in the extreme but honestly it's on-brand for Joaquin Phoenix.

Despite Phoenix's eccentricities, there is no denying the man's talent. He's been nominated for four Academy Awards, won two Golden Globes, and even taken home a Grammy. With films like WALK THE LINE, GLADIATOR, THE MASTER, and SIGNS to his credit he's truly become one of the great actors of this generation. Last year Phoenix delivered arguably the performance of his career with JOKER, a tour de force of acting that pushed the actor to his limits. He's currently cleaning up on the awards circuit and is the odds on favorite to win Best Actor at this year's Academy Awards.

If Phoenix does in fact win the Oscar he won't be the first actor to win an award for playing the Clown Prince of Crime. Australian actor Heath Ledger famously won for Christopher Nolan's 2008 film THE DARK KNIGHT.  Just this past Sunday Joaquin Phoenix took home his first Screen Actor's Guild award for Best Actor. Phoenix graciously accepted the prize and made it a point to thank Ledger in his speech:

Famous physicist Isaac Newton once famously said, "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." Without question Heath Ledger was a giant in the acting world. Although once thought of as merely the pretty boy in films like A KNIGHT'S TALE and 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, Ledger's star turn in Ang Lee's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN put aside all doubts about his acting talent. Tomorrow marks the twelfth anniversary of his death and it's heartbreaking to think what amazing films he could have done if not for his untimely demise. For Joaquin Phoenix to not only acknowledge Ledger's greatness but to call him his favorite actor speaks volumes.

So are you rooting for Joaquin Phoenix at the Oscars? Do you think JOKER will win Best Picture? What roles do you think Heath Ledger would have taken on had he lived? Let us know in the comment section below!