Joker: Joaquin Phoenix lost so much weight to play Batman villain he started ‘going mad’

New film from Todd Phillips received eight-minute standing ovation at Venice premiere

Joker star Joaquin Phoenix has said he lost so much weight to play the character that he started to “go mad”.

The actor plays the DC supervillain in Todd Phillips’s new film, which received an eight-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival over the weekend.

Phoenix reportedly lost 52 pounds in the process of his physical transformation for the role, and met with director Phillips six months before shooting to design the character's look and laugh.

“The first thing for us was the weight loss – I think that’s really what I started with,” said Phoenix at the film festival.

“And, as it turns out, that then affects your psychology. You start to go mad when you lose that amount of weight in that amount of time.”

The film, which is already sparking Oscars buzz, was described by The Independent’s film critic Geoffrey Macnab as “powerful and original". He added that Phoenix plays the character “in a way that makes him seem both sympathetic and very creepy”.

Joker will be released in UK cinemas on 4 October 2019.