Joaquin Phoenix Wins Best Actor Oscar For ‘Joker’ (See Red Carpet Photos)

February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 Tonnison 268 Views

Joaquin Phoenix capped his awards season sweep with his first Oscar on Sunday for “Joker,” besting a packed field of nominees that included Antonio Banderas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, and Jonathan Pryce.

His first Academy Award follows months of controversy over the arthouse origin story about Batman’s nemesis, which stoked fears of inciting violence even as it hoarded nominations and awards.

“We share the same love, the love of film. This form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life,” the actor said before launching into an emotional call for Hollywood to “use our voice for the voiceless” and “fight against injustice.”

He ended his speech with a tearful tribute to his brother River, who died of an overdose in 1993 at age 23.

“Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow,” Phoenix said, quoting his brother.

Phoenix, a celebrated actor’s actor with three previous Oscar nominations under his belt, began this season as the best-actor front-runner thanks to his gaunt, tortured turn as the Clown Prince of Crime in Todd Phillips’s bleak origin story, a grim reimagining that heavily drew on films like Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and King of Comedy for inspiration. Joker was both a critical and box office hit, grossing over $1 billion worldwide and earning key awards early on in the festival circuit, signaling the potential accolades to come in the greater awards season.

Phoenix, who attended the ceremony with his fiancée, Oscar nominee Rooney Mara, celebrated his fellow nominees in his speech, then dove right into his belief in animal rights and the fight against injustice. Over the last few months, the actor has been unafraid to get political on awards podiums, using his acceptance speeches to highlight issues like the lack of diversity in the film industry and the ever-worsening climate crisis. The best-actor winner, who has attended several awards wearing the exact same Stella McCartney tuxedo in the name of sustainability, kept the political momentum going on the Oscar stage.

“At times we’re made to feel that we champion different causes, but for me, I see commonality,” he said. “I think whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights…we’re talking about the fight against injustice.”

He then began talking about humanity’s disconnect from “the natural world,” using the mistreatment of cows as an example to get to a broader point about the meat and dairy industries. (Phoenix is a longtime vegan and animal rights activist.) “We steal her baby even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable, and then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal,” he said.

“We fear the idea of personal change because we think we have to sacrifice something to give something up,” he continued. “When we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings.”