People.com Entertainment Movies Joaquin Phoenix Sprints Through the Streets of New York City as He Films 'The Joker' Joaquin Phoenix is fully decked out as the DC super-villain in the latest peek at director Todd Phillips' thriller By Nigel Smith Nigel Smith Nigel Smith is Senior News Editor, Movies at PEOPLE. He is an Entertainment Editor and Writer with more than 10 years of experience in the online and print industries as a journalist, storyteller, proofreader and manager. In 2017 Smith joined the PEOPLE editorial team in New York as News Editor, Movies. He has written feature stories and reviews including interviews with Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Hudson and Russell Crowe. Prior, he served as News Editor at the Wrap in Los Angeles, and Entertainment Editor at the Guardian, also in LA, where he covered the red carpet at major awards shows including the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Governors Awards, Grammy Awards and Independent Spirit Awards. He also attended and reported on major film festivals at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Telluride, SXSW and Tribeca. Smith has appeared as an expert commentator on numerous morning and entertainment shows including Good Morning America, Today, NBC News, BBC News, Access Hollywood, NY1, PeopleTV and more. A native of Toronto, Canada, Smith graduated from Syracuse University in New York State with Master of Arts degree in Arts Journalism (Film). He is married and lives in New York City. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 19, 2018 04:09 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Christopher Peterson / Splash News Joaquin Phoenix has once again the streets in his full Joker costume and makeup to film scenes for his upcoming movie, Joker. The actor, 43, is fully decked out as the DC super-villain in the latest glimpse at director Todd Phillips’ thriller. Sporting the creepy facepaint he premiered earlier this fall, this latest image also shows Phoenix wearing the character’s signature color suit as he sprints through the streets and runs from police. While plot details of the film have been kept under wraps, Phoenix previously opened up about taking on the character in a July interview with the website Collider. “It feels unique, it’s its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f— s— out of me, or something,” Phoenix said, before adding that any actor’s next project “might as well be the thing that scares you the most.” See Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker — in Super-Creepy Makeup! Joaquin Phoenix. Christopher Peterson / Splash News The actor also discussed what it’s like to step into a role that so many people have opinions about. “It’s a magnified version of what you deal with as an actor,” he said, explaining that whenever an actor takes on a famous role and then gets in front of the film’s creative team, it can be nerve-wracking. “They have their expectation, and they’ve imagined things in their head, and they’ve imagined different actors, and suddenly you take it on and so there’s this moment of anxiety of, ‘Did I live up to their expectations?’” he continued. “And at some point, you have to just own it and say like ‘I can’t consider who they might have thought up before or what the movie was for the six months ago, this is what it is now and I have to find my way into it.’” WATCH: The Laughs, Jokes and Evil Moments From the Joker Over the Past 77 Years The famous character has previously been portrayed by many actors, including Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and Jared Leto. Warner Bros has described the film as being an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Joker origin film is scheduled for release in October 2019.