# Hey, you know who would make a good "Joker"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 20, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618 "2005-09-20T23:23:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/1 "2005-09-20T23:23:30Z")
> **[Chris Owen - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654104/)**
>
> Chris Owen, Actor: The Mist. Chris Owen was born on September 25, 1980 in Michigan, USA as Christopher Owen. He is known for his work on The Mist (2007), October Sky (1999) and American Pie (1999). He has been married to Dayna Cousins since August...
The Sherminator!!
Anyone? Ok, just kidding. He’s got the look, though. Can anyone go one better?
Without mentioning Sean Penn or Crispin Glover?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/2 "2005-09-20T23:41:25Z")
To tell the truth, I thought Jack Nicholson, when I first heard of it, was the ideal choic. He had played insane character, and his face was the ideal shape for somew artists versions of The Joker. Certainly better than Cesar Romero (especially since he wouldn’t shave off that moustache, and insited n coverin it with greasepaint).
This guy would look OK for that “absurdly long and thin” version of the Joker, though. Don’t know anything bout his acting or personality, though.
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### Author:  [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/3 "2005-09-21T00:41:13Z")
Hey, looking at his IMDB page, I have learned that they’ve already made **American Pie 4: Band Camp** , which may or may not be being released straight to video. Ah, the age we live in.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/4 "2005-09-21T00:42:48Z")
Read today that Paul Bettany is one of the front-runners. Seems like a solid choice.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/5 "2005-09-21T01:00:21Z")
I said it before, I’ll say it again: [Michael Jackson](http://www.israellycool.com/michael%20jackson%20joker%20AP.jpg) is the Joker.
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### Author:  [@The\_Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hook)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/6 "2005-09-21T02:04:24Z")
Cillian Murphy
Oh, yeah… right. Well, he could be the Scarejocrow. Imagine the possibilities!
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### Author:  [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/7 "2005-09-21T02:22:45Z")
Mark Hamil. Seriously. He’d be perfect.
There’s two reasons why, too. Points to people who know 'em!
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### Author:  [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/8 "2005-09-21T03:16:03Z")
1. Mark Hamill provided the voice of the Joker in the animated series.
2. He once contaminated the North Atlantic with a toxin that mutated all sea life into hideous, grinning “Hamill Fish.”
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### Author:  [@ChaChaHeels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChaChaHeels)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/9 "2005-09-21T05:31:19Z")
I wish they would have saved Cillian Murphy for the joker.
Tim Curry can do just about anything I wouldn’t mind seeing him give it a go.
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### Author:  [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/10 "2005-09-21T05:44:20Z")
I really, really, really want to see Vince McMahon play Mysterio in a Spiderman movie. He’s got the voice and he’s got the body. Put a fishbowl on his head and he’s perfect!
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/11 "2005-09-21T08:17:50Z")
I think Mark Hamill’s a great guy, and has been doing some great voice work, and I’d love to see him get some decent work on the big screen again.
…but not as the Joker. I don’t have a lot of confidence that he’s physically up to performing such an (sorry) animated character. I mean the physical acting. Maybe he’s got what it takes to pull it off, and by all means he should have the opportunity to test for it – but if I had to cast it blind, I’d choose someone that I knew had what it takes.
You know who I’d like to see try it on? Jude Law.
He has approximately the right sort of face, and a tiny bit of prosthetic make-up would go a long way. More importantly, he has the range. Jude Law doing a bone-chilling manic would be fantastic – he can put something terrifying into his eyes that I’m not sure Mark could.
His physical chops are the selling point for me, though – no, not his hot bod – the way he acts with his body. Unparalleled. That’s something that goes a long way towards realizing a comic-book character. He would make the Joker the larger-than-life, unnatural freak that he _needs_ to be. Guaranteed.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/12 "2005-09-21T09:05:12Z")
No. No.
They need to STOP casting pretty-boys as villains. The intimidation factor totally disappears. Cilian Murphy’s scarecrow was not at all menacing. Neither would be a Joker played by Jude Law.
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### Author:  [@Vintage\_1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vintage_1957)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/13 "2005-09-21T09:12:48Z")
I think Brent Spiner would make a decent Joker.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/14 "2005-09-21T11:42:05Z")
David Bowie has been my casting choice for Joker ever since I read Dark Knight Returns. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Crispin Glover, Tim Roth, Edward Norton, or Mark Hamill either. NOT Sean Penn, no way.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/15 "2005-09-21T12:10:36Z")
> [@bubastis](#):
>
> [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654104/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654104/)
>
> The Sherminator!!
>
> Anyone? Ok, just kidding. He’s got the look, though. Can anyone go one better?
> Without mentioning Sean Penn or Crispin Glover?
I would say you’re right about the look. He looks just like the Joker in flashbacks during “The Killing Joke.”
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### Author:  [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/16 "2005-09-21T13:43:00Z")
The second part of the Mark Hamil thing is, apparently, he’s a very physical voice actor. And there’s film of him doing the Joker, and he’s… well, he’s the freaking Joker. Seriously. Worth finding if you can hunt it down.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/17 "2005-09-21T14:18:28Z")
Oh, come now. The Joker? Jim Carrey.
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### Author:  [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/18 "2005-09-21T14:29:03Z")
The best suggestion I had heard, from somewhere on IMDB I think, was Adrien Brody, with the voice dubbed by Mark Hamill. But now that I’m reading some of these ideas, people I never considered for some reason, like Brent Spiner or Edward Norton … _damn_, but Ed Norton would make a good joker. As for Jim Carrey, well, based on his performance as the Riddler in _Batman Forever_, I’d say he is over the top, as the Joker should be, but in the wrong sort of way. If that makes any sense.
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/19 "2005-09-21T14:56:19Z")
Actually, I think Cesar Romero gets a bum rap for his portrayal of The Joker. At the time the TV series was produced, The Joker was basically just a silly character with a penchant for goofily themed crimes. He had been so for decades. Romero’s performance is consistent with how the readers knew the character at the time. It wasn’t 'til the 70’s that Denny O’Neil (I think) returned The Joker to his roots as a really, really scary psychopath with some advanced knowledge of poisons.
As for actors portraying him now, I think John Malkovich would be an excellent choice to portray The Joker as he was in his first couple stories: scary, sometimes somber, sometimes manic, and not as physically grotesque (save coloration) as he was later drawn.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-you-know-who-would-make-a-good-joker/322618/20 "2005-09-21T14:59:36Z")
I can see that. Gary Oldman would also be a great Joker (he’s always good in everything), but he’s already cast as a great Commissioner Gordon. With the exception of Tim Curry, I’d rather see a dramatic actor ham it up as a freaky, menacing Joker than have a comic actor (Carrey, Myers, Williams) turn the character into a (ahem) joke.
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