Marc Maron Talks ‘Joker’ Origin Movie

It was reported recently that Glow’s Marc Maron would be joining the Joker origin movie alongside Todd Phillips, Joaquin Phoenix, and Robert De Niro, and he shared his thoughts on the news on his podcast.

Maron’s latest episode of his WTF podcast (episode 938) puts Luzer Twersky in the spotlight, but before he dove into the interview he addressed the reports of him joining the Joker film, confirming that he is indeed involved with the project.

“Alright, well yes, it is true,” Maron said. “It is true people. It is true ladies and gentlemen, I have been added to the cast of the new Joker movie being directed by Todd Phillips, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Rober De Niro. Two of the greatest actors that have ever graced the screen. And I know some of you given my recent discussions about the slow corruption of our culture and arts by the consolidation of desire around the limited options of big budget blockbuster movies in the form of superhero movies are probably kind of thinking ‘well look at this. Big talker! Look at this guy! He’s a hypocrite, he’s a this or that.’

Maron is referencing several interviews he’s had with actors involved with superhero films (namely Josh Brolin and Paul Rudd) that have received some pushback from fans of superhero movies. Maron has explained his stance on previous episodes, and that isn’t changing with this project.

“I’ll be honest with ya,” Maron said. “My agents trying to get me an audition for this film proceeded my rants. I do not think that my opinions have changed at all. I have in my life as I’ve mentioned before read plenty of comic books, but the bottom line is this. I never thought that my life would take me to where I am now. I didn’t assume anything when I started this podcast other than I hope I can stay alive. I don’t know if I can make a living. I don’t know what you do with these podcasts but I gotta stay engaged, stay busy and try to, you know. remain on the right side of the grass.”

Maron has been a big fan of De Niro’s work for most of his life, so accepting this was a no-brainer.

“So, who would’ve known that some of my dreams would have come true if they were dreams or some of my ambitions? You know making my own TV show, developing an audience as a comedian, doing the best comedy I’ve ever done in my life,” Maron said. “Having a career in show business period that the podcast itself would be successful…so given all that, certainly one of my childhood dreams, and I don’t want or like to use the word Bucket List but it was something I thought about in college and something I thought about as a fan of films was, ‘God if I was ever an actor it would be amazing to be in a scene with Robert De Niro. Wouldn’t it be amazing to act with Robert De Niro?’”

“How long have I been thinking about that? Most of my life! So, given that the time that we live in does not put a lot of resources into films like Deer Hunter, or even I would say, Raging Bull, or certainly not Taxi Driver, but probably not even Goodfellas really at this juncture in history, so given that this is the timing that this is where it’s at, once given the opportunity that it was going to happen, that I got this gig and I’m gonna do a couple of scenes maybe with Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix, the next in the line of succession in great actors, f*** yes I’m going to do that. Of course, I’m going to do that,” Maron said.

Maron didn’t reveal the character he would be playing, but he did take a second to praise the script. “This is the movie that it’s going to be in, and hopefully it will make the cut, and honestly, it’s a pretty great script. So there you have it,” Maron said.

You can find the full podcast in the video above and more episodes can be found on the official website and iTunes.