Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix Were Offered the Role of the Joker in The Dark Knight, But Turned it Down

Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix were both offered the role of Joker in The Dark Knight, but ended up turning it down, according to the film's casting director.

When speaking at the Nashville Film Festival (via TV Intelligentsia and Batman News), Christopher Nolan's longtime casting director John Papsidera revealed that Heath Ledger was not the first choice for Joker in The Dark Knight. He said the script was sent to Leonardo DiCaprio first, who apparently didn't even respond. Then, the offer went to Joaquin Phoenix, who would later win an Oscar for the same role in 2019's Joker. Phoenix told Nolan and Papsidera at the time that he wasn't interested in doing big movies and declined the part.

Eventually, they landed on Heath Ledger, and the rest is history. Leonardo DiCaprio went on to star in Nolan's next project, Inception. The actor also stated last year that The Dark Knight was his favorite Nolan film. Warner Bros. …