The iconic actor who played the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 adaptation of Batman has spoken about the approach he wanted to give his role
Jack Nicholson he knew right away how he was going to play the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman; it was going to be the only way the film would have been taken seriously.
The actor, who turned 85 on Friday, has made many remember his performance as the Joker in Tim Burton’s film and has once again shared a report that was made a few years ago of the legendary 1989 film, where Nicholson explained how he made the classic DC comics villain why couldn’t he be a bombastic cartoon incarnation. If it was, the image would be discarded even before he was out the door.
“I was scared because of my feeling of TV series and the way movies are usually made and talked about. I didn’t want this to be normal, ‘Let’s cheer it up for the kids.’”Nicholson said earlier. “I thought this was a very strong transition movie, in every way, about the genre, and really why they wanted me there.”
In the same documentary, Batman producer Peter Guber noted that Nicholson’s involvement legitimized the image within the industry.
“Changed the nature of the ‘comic’ frame to a movie, from a movie to a movie with the inclusion of Jack Nicholson”Guber said. “There was something for the critics and the media to find out there because they would find it intriguing that Jack wanted to do that.”
Compared to Marlon Brando lending his acting seriousness to Guber’s 1978 Superman, Nicholson said he took the role of Joker more seriously than anyone else involved in the project. And he knew that kids would respond to a darker version of the character.
“My first experience working for an audience full of children: the more you scare them, the more they like it”said Nicholson devilishly. “The worse you are, the better, because that was my response to the Joker. This is a hateful fact, this man, if you look at it literally. All children love this boy, I think.”.
You can see the excerpt dedicated to the Joker from the 1989 Batman below:
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