Joaquin Phoenix dedicated his win at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work on Todd Phillips’ Joker to the late Heath Ledger. Playing the iconic DC villain in his very first standalone flick, Phoenix wowed the public with his intense portrayal of the character. So much so that he has been sweeping acting accolades for his latest role this awards season, previously winning at the Golden Globes. However, the actor didn’t forget that prior to his portrayal, Ledger’s outing as the comic book antagonist was an awards season darling.

Debuting in Christopher Nolan’s highly acclaimed The Dark Knight film, Ledger played the Clown Prince of Crime opposite Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne/Batman. The movie was the first comic book movie that garnered award season chatter, particular for Ledger’s creepy portrayal of the Joker. His magnetic (and evil) screen presence didn’t go unnoticed by the Academy Awards in 2008 as he was awarded that year’s Best Supporting Actor accolade. Sadly, the Oscar was awarded to Ledger posthumously, as he died months before The Dark Knight premiered.

Acknowledging what his predecessor accomplished playing the same DC role, Phoenix accepted this year’s SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role with a shoutout to Ledger. In his speech, he said that he’s standing on the shoulders of The Dark Knight star, and also calling him as his favorite actor. Check out his full acceptance speech below shared by THR:

Phoenix also mentioned his fellow nominees. He showered Leonardo DiCaprio for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Christian Bale for James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari, Adam Driver for Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Taron Egerton for Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman with individual praises. The actor’s speech was a mix of humor and sincerity, he spoke about his experience in Hollywood, making rounds during awards season. He admitted that he didn’t fully appreciate it at that time, but he’s now “now realize how fortunate I am to be a part of this community. I have such reverence for actors and what we do. I’m really honored to be here.” 

With Phoenix killing it this awards season, coupled with Joker’s whopping 11 nominations for this year’s Academy Awards (including Best Director nod for Phillips), the actor is currently the frontrunner to take home this year’s Oscar Best Actor hardware. Whether or not he’ll ultimately win remains a question, but he’s up against some great competitors like DiCaprio and Driver, as well as Jonathan Pryce for Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes and Antonio Banderas in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory.

More: Oscars 2020: Predicting Joker’s Chances Of Winning In Every Category

Source: THR

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