Todd Phillips’ 2019 directorial, Joker has left an indelible impact in the filmmaking world, all thanks to Joaquin Phoenix, who stunned the audiences with his insane acting skills. It follows his character, Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring stand-up comic who under bleak circumstances went through a transformation to become the iconic Joker character.
However, many might be surprised to know that Marvel actor Bradley Cooper has a crucial role in Phoenix’s movie. Serving as one of the producers in the Warner Bros. project, he basically convinced his good pal, Robert De Niro to be a part of the movie.
Robert De Niro Joined Joker Due to Bradley Cooper
Joker truly left a long-lasting impact on the filmmaking world with the actors associated with the project being highly praised for their work. While Joaquin Phoenix gained massive recognition for bringing out a different side of his titular character, his co-stars also gained significant praise. One of his co-stars included veteran actor, Robert De Niro, whom his longtime pal, Bradley Cooper convinced to join the project.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the two-time Oscar winner shared that the Marvel star told him to work on the project.
“I met Todd Phillips [the director] and I liked him. I thought ‘This will be an interesting project.’ Bradley was one of the producers and he told me to do it.”
He continued to praise the movie producer stating,
“He’s really terrific. What he did with A Star Is Born, the way he worked on it quietly by himself, put it together, found the right actors, the right people . . . When you know what you want to do, that’s a great thing, and you know it’ll be special.”
The Taxi Driver actor portrayed the role of talk show host Murray Franklin whom Phoenix’s character, Arthur Fleck, greatly admired. The duo ended up sharing a complex relationship on-screen with Franklin becoming a significant character that contributed to the Joker’s transformation into a chaotic personality in Gotham City.
Not just that, Cooper also has a significant contribution in picking out small details in the course of the entire movie after watching it many times before its actual release.
Bradley Cooper Took Joker‘s Production Work Seriously!
Not only did he convince De Niro of the project, but he proved to have a significant role due to his production skills. In Collider‘s interview, film editor Jeff Groth unveiled interesting details, including the 2-time Grammy Awards winner’s contribution to the movie.
Talking about how he, along with film director Todd Phillips kept the movie screening quite restricted to avoid a leak, he mentioned that Cooper lent a hand when needed.
“We kept this one pretty close to us. We screened it more personally for people and filmmakers. Bradley Cooper definitely came in a couple of times. He was a producer on the movie, but he definitely watched the movie many times and sat with us. We could call him if we got stuck with something and be like, ‘Hey, can you come over and take a look at things?’”
He further complimented the actor for having a knack for observing small details. Continuing in the interview, he stated,
“He doesn’t miss a thing (laughs). He would watch stuff and he would pick out even some of the smallest things and what are some of the things that he can be picked out for us to address. He was definitely a huge help. I think he got a lot more experience in editing than most people would realize.”
It only defines how refined his production skills are after years of experience in the industry. Meanwhile, his work contributed to making the movie a great success. Despite adopting a dark and gritty tone, the movie ended up becoming a huge blockbuster, earning over a billion dollars at the global box office.
Joker is available to stream on HBO Max.
