Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight is one of the best film performance of all time, period. Part of what makes the part so iconic is the sense of controlled madness. Yeah he might be criminally insane, but everything he does has a purpose. That’s the scariest kind of villain.
So, what does the Joker look like when he’s played with uncontrolled madness? Now we know, thanks to Tommy Wiseau.
Mr. Wiseau, if you’re unfamiliar is the writer, director, producer and star of the 2003 film The Room, which is widely considered to be one of the worst movies ever made. If you haven’t seen The Room, imagine if a Martian heard about what movies are, but never actually saw one, but still tried to make one anyway. The Room flopped initially, but gained a second life as a “so bad it’s good” guilty pleasure. The movie has plenty of cringeworthy, meme-able moments, like this line:
More recently, Wiseau was the subject of The Disaster Artist, a 2017 film that’s like an Ed Wood for the millennial generation. Wiseau has been enjoying some newfound celebrity thanks to The Disaster Artist, so maybe that’s why, when it was announced that director Todd Phillips would be filming a standalone Joker movie, Wiseau rolled the dice:
Todd. DM me. https://t.co/DHYg3EXvhs
— Tommy Wiseau (@TommyWiseau) February 10, 2018
Phillips never responded, and the part went to Joaquin Phoenix. But the Tweet still captured plenty of people’s imaginations. What would a Tommy Wiseau Joker movie look like?
The fine folks over at Nerdist decided to find out. Here now it Tommy Wiseau’s “audition” for The Joker. Hold on to your butts.
Man oh man. That’s a lot of highlights packed into a two and a half minute video. These were some of mine:
-Tommy starting the audition before the cameras are even rolling.
-Tommy not seeming to know what human laughter sounds like.
-The choice to dress the Joker in a green cardigan. Like he’s a middle-aged Joker who drives a soccer van, but still finds time to cause mayhem on weekends.
-Tommy’s first line reading of “Why so serious?” which he reads more like “Why? So serious?”
-Tommy trying to make “Jingle bells, Batman smells” sound terrifying.
-And finally, Greg Sestero’s portrayal of Batman. (Still not as bad as Val Kilmer’s.)
Never change, Tommy.
Enjoy life, everyone.
h/t: Vice