It’s hard to think of a movie I was more hyped for than The Dark Knight. Batman Begins hit me at the exact right time, stoking my love of film and steering me toward an obsession with superhero comic books. My knowledge of the internet was limited, so I would spend hours refreshing Wikipedia to see if any announcements were made regarding the film’s production or casting. It was updated pretty regularly, but only with what was available at the time: rumors. The biggest rumor? Who would play The Joker?
The Clown Prince of Crime did not appear in Batman Begins but was magnificently teased before the end credits. I remember reading about the tease in a (less than stellar) review in my hometown’s paper. Now, it’s insane to think that a review described the last few moments of a movie. Then, my mind brain wild, imagining an already cast actor leaning out of the shadows to reveal himself. Nope! It was just a playing card, but it sent the Hollywood rumor mill running.
I haven’t looked back at the rumors going on at the time. Immediately I remember Robin Williams’ name being bandied about. Maybe there was an idea that he had pitched himself to Christopher Nolan directly. I can’t remember specifically. What I do remember is a name getting thrown out that seemed like a sure choice, and that was Adrien Brody. Forget all of his acting accomplishments up until that point, his potential casting resonated with me because he looked like the Joker.
For a long time, I assumed that people threw his name out there because they viewed his appearance the same way I did. Now, we know that things got a bit closer than that. Brody recently revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he met with Nolan about the role. However, he “wasn’t close.” “It was a role that I felt very suited to do,” the actor explained.” Heath did such a remarkable job in that movie. It was indelible. Such beautiful work.” He ain’t wrong. Ledger crushed. That’s just a fact. But Brody noted that the circumstances were different than usual.
“Any actor who has a degree of edge would like to delve into a dark character like that, especially with a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan who brought such a profound vision,” the Pianist actor told Josh Horowitz. “And nobody was doing that at the time. There was nothing like that.” According to Brody, it would take a circumstance like that to get him to take on a comic book role now. “If I was presented with an opportunity to play an interesting character with a filmmaker that elevated me and gave me space to do something vastly different. In that world, it sounds amazing.”
Given the copy-and-paste nature of current comic book films, Brody likely won’t get what he’s asking for. But we can dream! As for how close he came to playing the Joker, it wasn’t as close as my 16-year-old brain thought.