MovieWeb's 10 Times Joaquin Phoenix Completely Transformed Himself for a Role

"Actors transforming themselves for a role is a very commonplace thing. In fact, a lot of newspaper columns and YouTube channels document an actor's transformation, sharing before and after pictures for contrast. Unfortunately, in most cases, the preparation is only physical and does not translate into acting. While many actors go on fad diets and starve themselves for some PR brownie points, there are a few masters that leverage transforming their bodies to mimic the character's portrait and align themselves with the person they're going to play. Joaquin Phoenix is one such actor that's known to completely stretch the limits of his physicality and push himself to extreme ends to step inside the skin of his character. Whether it's a large man in Beau is Afraid, or a skinny rendition of Batman's foe in Joker, Phoenix always brings an interesting interpretation that translates to body transformation and beyond. Here are some of his best transformations for a role." - movieweb.com