‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Nearly Cast Justin Theroux as Joker in the TV Movie That Harley Loves: ‘We Were Going to Shoot a Trailer at One Point’

One of the recurring jokes throughout “Joker: Folie à Deux” is whether or not a television movie that was made based on Arthur Fleck’s life and killing spree (the events of the 2019 film) is actually good or not. Lady Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel is obsessed with the TV movie, and it clearly played a big role in her idolization of the real Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix). Every time he asks her how the TV movie based on his life turned out, she can’t help but give it a rave review.

In an interview with IGN, “Joker” director and co-writer Todd Phillips revealed that he contemplated actually filming parts of the TV movie to show during the sequel. He even spoke to Justin Theroux about playing Arthur/Joker in the TV movie, as Theroux popped up in the original “Joker” film as the actor Ethan Chase. It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss it cameo, but Theroux’s Ethan was a guest on Murray Franklin’s talk show.

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“Well, Justin Theroux of course,” Phillips said when asked who plays Joker in the TV film. “In fact, I talked to Justin about it. We were going to shoot a trailer at one point. We just ran out of time. Yes, ‘Ethan Chase,’ the actor from the first movie.”

It’s ultimately revealed that the TV movie’s quality was perhaps just another lie Harley was telling Arthur throughout the film in order to bring out the Joker in him. She seems to be the only one who liked the movie, as other characters tell Arthur that it was bad. He chooses to believe Harley as they fall in love.

Elsewhere in the IGN interview, Phillips was asked why Phoenix’s Arthur does not sport the Joker’s trademark green hair when he finally puts on all the clown makeup to represent himself in his murder trial.

“It was a practical thing. And quite frankly, Joaquin and I kind of liked the look of him in a regular suit just with the makeup and not the hair,” Phillips said. “You can look it up, but believe it or not, people can represent themselves. It can happen. It’s famously been done. I mean, Ted Bundy ended up representing himself. It’s been done. Arthur just thought it seemed like a cool thing to do, but they would not let you dye your hair. Meaning because the prison wouldn’t allow him to have that.”

“Joker: Folie à Deux” is now playing in theaters from Warner Bros.