At the 92nd Academy Awards, Joaquin Phoenix won the coveted Best Actor in a Leading Role award for his performance as The Joker in Todd Phillips' billion-dollar DC movie, Joker.
Phoenix is the second actor to win the Best Actor award at the Oscars for portraying Joker, following Heath Ledger. He won the award posthumously for his performance in 2008's The Dark Knight.
Phoenix gave a blistering and haunting performance in Joker as Arthur Fleck in a story that saw his character evolve from a down-on-his-luck professional clown to become a murdering madman. He was widely expected to win the Best Actor award over the other nominees, which included Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), and Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes).
It’s official! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/kffGyeWUWB
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020
In addition to Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, Joker took home the Academy Award for Best Score by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Phoenix gave an impassioned acceptance speech where he spoke about how he would like to see people grow together in unity. You can watch it below.
For more on the 92nd Academy Awards, check out GameSpot's full rundown of all the winners.
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2020