10 Actors You Probably Didn’t Know Almost Played The Joker

4) Willem Dafoe

Rubber-faced Willem Dafoe has already won over comic book fans with his perfectly pitched take (apart from the costume) as the Green Goblin in 2002’s Spider-Man (see the clip above). Given that, it makes total sense that he was previously tested for another cackling supervillain.

Dafoe was yet another actor considered for the 1989 Batman film before Jack Nicholson nabbed the part. You only need to look at the actor to see why he was considered. Dafoe really is one of those rare talents who could play the role with minimal amount of make-up. Besides that, he’s got the manic intensity of the Joker and one hell of an evil laugh.

3) Tim Curry

Though he’s only voiced the character, Mark Hamill is many fans’ choice for the best Joker ever – after playing the role for twenty-odd years since first appearing in Batman: The Animated Series. However, things could have been very different if the production team’s first choice for the role went ahead.

When casting the Joker, naturally, BTAS‘s producers went to someone who had already played an evil clown – It star Tim Curry. Curry even went as far as to record an episode as the character before it was decided that the actor’s menacing tones were just too scary for the younger members of the audience. Instead, they roped in a previous guest star, Hamill, to play a decidedly less intense version. The rest is Bat-history.