Zazie Beetz has gained a lot of notoriety lately for her recent roles, including her part in Joker. The German-American actress first came to prominence when she joined the cast of Atlanta. The actress is now tied to several new projects that will be released later this year, but most of the buzz is based on the comic book film.
The movie follows the tale of Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, an aspiring comedian-turned-criminal after a series of unfortunate events break his mental psyche. Beetz’s character, Sophie Dumond, is Fleck’s love interest and next-door neighbor who is also a single mother. The character played a key part in the unraveling of Fleck. Beetz discussed how she felt playing in the psychological-thriller and her thoughts on a possible sequel.
Zazie Beetz enters the world of the Joker
The actress first learned of the part through her agent. When she heard that Phoenix was set to play the main character, the actress was immediately intrigued. “When I heard that Joaquin was attached, my ears and my heart perked a lot. Reading the script, I was completely blown away. Ten pages in, I knew that I had to do this movie,” the actress stated during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Beetz continued that the casting process was a fairly normal process. After she booked the role, her character underwent several rewrites throughout production. “The script was great, we rewrote the whole thing while we were shooting it,” Beetz revealed prior to the film’s release.
The actress’ character had a unique twist
Joker spoilers ahead for those who haven’t seen the award-winning movie yet: Throughout the film, it is shown that Zazie Beetz’s character was in a relationship with Fleck. However, the film’s climax reveals that the two were never romantically involved. Fleck had made up most of their interactions in his head. When it came to the big reveal, Beetz explained how she felt when found out character would be more fantasy than reality.
“I think the movie just really shifted into something where it’s all coming from his brain. In the end, isn’t it all up for questioning? What is reality or what isn’t reality as he questions his own reality and his own existence in the world? So, Sophie just started inserting into his brain rather than necessarily being a whole physical character outside in the story,” the actress explained.
Because of the film’s ominous ending, there could be room left for a sequel. In regards to that, Beetz offered her opinion on it. “I don’t know if it needs one. There is a lot of strength in not milking something,” Beetz said on the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards. The actress added that if the director, Todd Phillips, wanted to do a sequel, she would trust him. Joker received several nominations at the most recent Oscars, and Phoenix won the coveted award for Best Actor due to his performance.