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

1) Robin Williams

A self-confessed comic book fan, Robin Williams publicly expressed his interest in playing the Joker all through his career but was tragically never given the chance. Firstly, the actor was offered the part in the 1989 movie. Unfortunately, in his words, he was “screwed” over by Warner Bros. who allegedly only signed Williams up in an attempt to coax Nicholson to take the part.

When the Joker was to reappear in The Dark Knight, Williams again made clear his interest. He was a favourite to get it, too, especially because he had worked with Christopher Nolan before in Insomnia. Sadly for him, Nolan did not come calling. The actor was so eager to appear in a Batman movie he even said he would play “some weird little man in the background in Arkham Asylum.” It’s a real tragedy, then, that he was never granted his wish.