Fear makes us work harder says ‘Joker’ star Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix says he was initially scared of starring in "Joker", but the actor believes the fear motivated him to work harder. Phoenix plays the Clown Prince of Crime in the upcoming DC movie directed by Todd Phillips. ''It took me a while (to commit). Now, when I look back, I don't understand why... There was a lot of fear, yeah. But I always say there's motivating fear and debilitating fear.

''There's the fear where you cannot make a f*****g step, and there's the kind where it's like, 'OK, what do we do? That's not good enough.' And you're digging deeper and deeper. I love that kind of fear. It guides us, makes us work harder," the actor told Total magazine. 

"Joker", written by Phillips and Scott Silver, centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen.

The film, produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff and executive-produced by Richard Baratta, will hit the theatres in October.

"Joker" also features  Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro and Marc Maron.