Another major player could soon be headed to Warner Bros.’ upcoming Joker movie.
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The Wrap is reporting that Frances Conroy is in talks to join Joaquin Phoenix the upcoming live-action venture. Conroy is being tapped to play the Joker‘s mother, a woman by the name of Penny.
Conroy is the second actress to be associated with the character, after it was revealed earlier this month that Frances McDormand turned down the same role. Apparently, DC wanted a “name” to play the role of the Joker’s mother, and it looks like they could get their wish with Conroy.
Conroy has had a pretty prolific acting career, and is known for her roles in Six Feet Under, 6 Souls, and Maid in Manhattan. This would be the actress’ latest DC Comics movie role, after appearing as Ophelia Powers in the Halle Berry-led Catwoman movie.
A previously-released casting description for the role of Penny can be found below.
“Supporting Female (60-74) Caucasian. Lower class, very attractive in her younger days, still feels that way about herself. But recently her health has started failing, and she’s nearly bedridden in her Lower East Side apartment which she shares with her grown son who just moved back home. She’s obsessed with her former employer and can’t believe that this is what her life has come to, that she has ended up here, like this.”
If Conroy does take the role, she will join what is already a pretty eclectic cast. In addition to Phoenix playing the Clown Prince of Crime, Zazie Beetz is reportedly in talks to play a single mother role, and Robert De Niro is being eyed to play a talk show host.
The film, which is expected to begin production this September, will be directed by Todd Phillips and executive produced by Martin Scorcese. In March, a report suggested that the film would follow the Joker as an ’80s comedian, who turns to a life of crime after his stand-up career fails. And as it turns out, Phoenix has had that sort of idea kicking around in his head for quite some time.
“Three or four years ago, I called my agent and said ‘Why don’t they want to take one of these characters and just make a lower budget film about it, a movie but a character study, and why not take one of the villains?’” Phoenix revealed in a recent interview. “And I thought, ‘You can’t do the Joker, because, you know, it’s just you can’t do that character, it’s just been done.’ So I was trying to think of other characters, and he said ‘I’ll set up a general meeting with Warner Bros.’ And I said ‘I’m not gonna go, I can’t go to a general meeting.’ So I completely forgot about it, and so then I heard about this idea, I was like, ‘Oh that’s so exciting, that’s the kind of experience I wanted to have, with a movie based on a comic character.’ I felt like you could get something on screen.”
Do you want to see Frances Conroy join Joker? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Joker is expected to debut in theaters on October 4, 2019. Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.
