Willem Dafoe still wants to play a version of the Joker

Of all the actors who have portrayed the Joker over the years, it’s surprising that the most obvious choice has never played the character. Of course, I’m talking about Willem Dafoe. The actor seems tailor-made to play the Clown Prince of Crime, but it hasn’t happened… yet. While appearing on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Willem Dafoe indicated that he’s still down to play the Joker if Warner Bros. comes calling.

When Jimmy Fallon mentioned that many people want Willem Dafoe to play the Joker, the actor responded, “You know, talk to Warner Bros… I floated an idea a while ago, but it didn’t quite happen, so…” Dafoe continued, “Listen, I didn’t really float it to them. I just mentioned it in an interview and then it kind of went out on the internet. But I thought it would be cool for me to play an imposter — like slipstreaming his thing.” With Joaquin Phoenix and Barry Keoghan playing different versions of the Joker, perhaps there’s room for Willem Dafoe to take on the role as well. A fan can dream.

Willem Dafoe brought up his Joker idea over a year ago while speaking with GQ. “There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter,” Dafoe said. “So it would be possible to have not dueling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker. And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasized about that.“

Willem Dafoe is expected to reunite with Robert Eggers for his Nosferatu movie, which already includes Bill Skarsgård, Lily Rose-Depp, and Nicholas Hoult. The new reimagining of the classic tale will be a “gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him.” Willem Dafoe has worked with Robert Eggers twice before, starring alongside Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse and playing a supporting role opposite Alexander Skarsgård in The Northman.

Would you like to see Willem Dafoe play the Joker one of these days?