How Todd Phillips persuaded Joaquin Phoenix for 'Joker'

While Joaquin Phoenix had earlier shared that in 'Joker' he wanted to create something unidentifiable, the actor "wasn't keen on jumping into any comic book movie" prior to being cast, revealed the director, Todd Philips.

However, Philips was dead sure that only Phoenix can pull off the titular role better and shared the long story of persuasion that went behind bringing him on board.

"He was not keen on jumping into costume in any comic-book movie. It's not necessarily in his five-year plan -- although I don't think he has one," The Hollywood Reporter quoted the director as saying during an interview with The New York Times.

When asked if he had any others from the tinsel town in his mind to star in the film, Philips replied, "We wrote the movie for Joaquin."

But getting the actor to say yes cost the filmmaker a number of visits paid to him over a period of about three months.

Phoenix agreed to audition for the film and asked Philip to come over his home.

"I asked him to come over and audition me for it," Phoenix said during the same interview.

"It wasn't an easy decision, but he kept saying, 'Let's just be bold. Let's do something,'" he added.

After the audition, Phillips recalled, "I kept waiting for him to just say, 'OK, I'm in,' And he never did that."

The duo even opened up about the number of disagreements they had over the character's appearance, body type and many more.

Phoenix saw him as a heavier man, Phillips wanted him drastically thin. In the end, the director won as Phoenix lost 52 pounds to get into the character.

"It's a horrible way to live," Phoenix said while discussing his weight loss.

The upcoming film 'Joker', which just won the Golden Lion as the 76th Venice International Film Festival, is due to hit big screens October 4.