Photo Credit: DC, Lionsgate
Bill Skarsgård thinks playing the Joker in a Batman movie would be “pretty sick.”
Skarsgård is known for Pennywise in the two It movies, which includes 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two, while he’ll soon reprise the role in the 2025 HBO series It: Welcome to Derry. He also recently played Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake, which is now showing in United States theaters.
Having had roles in comic book movies like 2018’s Deadpool 2, 2021’s Eternals and 2024’s The Crow, Skarsgård now thinks it would be “pretty sick” to play DC’s Clown Prince of Crime.
What did Bill Skarsgård say about playing the Joker?
Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Skarsgård revealed himself to be a “Batman kid” while growing up.
When asked if he’d rather play Batman or Joker at this point in his career, Skarsgård said, “I don’t know, man. I think there’d be a f—ing cool Joker in me, probably, somewhere. I think that’d be pretty sick.”
Skarsgård said that, out of all the past Joker performances, Heath Ledger in 2008’s The Dark Knight has been his favorite. “I was like 17 or whatever [when I saw] Heath’s performance. And then he passed away. I was an aspiring actor and, to me, Heath represented everything that I wanted to be. His passing and the performance really hit me hard, at that time.”
At this time, no official casting announcement has been made regarding who will play Joker in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU. Andy Muschietti, who directed Skarsgård in the two It movies, has been tapped to the DCU’s The Brave and the Bold, which will feature Batman, though it’s currently unknown if the Joker will show up in that film as well.
“I don’t know exactly where he is with it,” Skarsgård said of Muschietti’s The Brave and the Bold.
Barry Keoghan, meanwhile, plays Joker in Matt Reeve’s Batman Epic Crime Saga, while Joaquin Phoenix recently reprised his role as Arthur Fleck/Joker in 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux.
