Joaquin Phoenix almost played the Joker in The Dark Knight.The 50-year-old actor was approached by Christopher Nolan to play the Batmanvillain in the 2008 picture but turned the part which went to the late Heath Ledger down as he felt he wasn't ready for such a role at the time.Phoenix told the Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin podcast: I remember I talked to Chris Nolan about The Dark Knight and that didnt happen for whatever reason ... I wasn't ready then. Thats one of those things where its like, What is in me thats not doing this? And its not about me. Theres something else.Theres another person whos going to do something... I cant imagine what it would be if we didnt have Heath Ledgers performance in that film, right?Warner Bros.Warner Bros.loading...READ MORE: Every Batman Actor Ranked From Worst to BestThe Napoleon actor added: I dont know whether Christopher Nolan was coming to me saying, You're definitely the person. I can't remember the context of how we met, but I know we met. My feeling was I shouldnt do this, but maybe he was also like, He's not the guy.Phoenix eventually did get to play the Clown Prince of Crime in the Todd Phillips movie Joker in 2019 winning the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal but Warner Bros. executive Jeff Goldstein admitted the musical sequel Joker: Folie a Deux didn't land with audiences after it flopped at the box office despite the addition of Lady Gaga to the cast asHarley Quinn.Speaking to The Wall Street Journal newspaper, Goldstein said: The movie didnt land with audiences the way we wanted it to.Meanwhile, Phillips suggested that he was unlikely to return to the world of Joker for a third movie.The filmmaker told Variety: For me, Ive always thought that these two movies kind of exist as their own thing ... And, no. I know youre trying to get the next thing, but I dont want to go into that.Get our free mobile app10 Famous TV Actors Who Never Had a Successful Film CareerWhether they tried or not, none of these actors had the same success in movies that they did on the TV shows that made them famous.Filed Under: Batman, DC Comics, Joaquin Phoenix, Joker, The Dark KnightCategories: Movie News