There are many factors that played into the success of 2019’s Joker , chief among them being a groundbreaking, Academy Award-winning performance by Joaquin Phoenix . He plays the bizarrely goofy titular character, Arthur Fleck, who is a complicated man that showcases a wide range of emotions. After all, he is known for an iconic laugh that comes about as a compulsion during moments that are anything but funny.
In the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux , we see a brand new Arthur Fleck quirk: his satirical Southern drawl. Now the film’s director Todd Phillips has given us the lowdown as to the accent’s origins. I spoke with Todd Phillips on behalf of Joker: Folie à Deux , and when I asked about Joaquin Phoenix’s Southern accent while he was representing himself in the courtroom scenes, Phillips said this: That was our idea in the script.
We put it in, Scott Silver and I. I don't remember where it came from before that, but it was very much about the idea that Arthur is a sponge, and Arthur probably saw a TV show that probably had a Southern lawyer, and he probably thought, “That's how you're supposed to be a lawyer.” Obviously it's ridiculous.
I think it's funny, and that's where it comes from. And I love in that particular scene how he kind of slips in and out of it. The scene in question is rather unsettling, in classic Joker fashion, as the manic Arthur Fleck provides something of a Matlock spoof during his tense murder trial.
There are no surprises in Phillips’ .