In "The Dark Knight," the Joker wears only self-applied makeup and at one point is seen with no makeup on at all. It makes the Joker even more frightening; his appearance is something he chooses, not an act of fate. Every time he puts on the makeup, he's making a decision to be the Joker.
This is the animated Joker without makeup as seen on Batman: The mask of Phantasm. This is Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Joker without makeup in the 1989 Batman movie.
Far-flung from most Joker incarnations, the Clown Prince of Crime that appears in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight uses makeup to achieve his signature appearance instead of it being due to an accident.
According to the Joker, his wife (who often mentioned that he needed to "smile more") found herself in trouble with gambling sharks who "carved her face." As the pair couldn't afford surgery, and in an effort to reassure his wife that he didn't care about her scars, the Joker disfigured himself in solidarity.
Phoenix's restlessness earns him the title of fastest Joker transformation with Heath Ledger's time on the makeup chair at an hour maximum, and Jared Leto's at a lengthy three hours.
Heath Ledger did the makeup for The Joker during Dark Knight screen tests instead of having pros do it. He wanted it to feel authentic, like the character was the one doing the makeup every day. Christopher Nolan says: “One thing Heath wanted to do was to apply makeup himself.
In an interview with Sarah Lyall, published in The New York Times on 4 November 2007, Ledger stated that he often could not sleep when taking on roles, and that the role of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) was causing his usual insomnia: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ...
Director Todd Phillips considered the character's body size as one way to represent his vulnerability. It is important to emphasize that unlike most people who diet to lose weight or who develop an eating disorder, Phoenix's weight loss was intended for the short amount of time it took to shoot the movie.
The psychopathology Arthur exhibits is unclear, preventing diagnosis of psychotic disorder or schizophrenia; the unusual combination of symptoms suggests a complex mix of features of certain personality traits, namely psychopathy and narcissism (he meets DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder).
In the documentary I Am Heath Ledger (via Digital Spy) it's revealed that, in order to keep the prosthetics in their place as they got loose when he spoke, Ledger had to lick his makeup to keep it in place, and it ended up becoming part of the Joker's manic personality, as well as his most memorable mannerism.
He got his skin bleached and hair dyed green by swimming through chemical waste to escape Batman (while disguised as The Red Hood). Heath Ledger's Joker was clearly a man wearing makeup, and his face has scars. But we're never given a confirmed backstory as to why!
Heath Ledger did a lot of his own makeup. because he wanted to feel more authentic. But this was also a major film, so, yes, there were makeup artists. His makeup artist chose a whole bunch of red lipsticks, put them in front of Heath Ledger, and he chose this one.
Since the Joker's apparent death in the bat cave, his body happened upon a pool of the substance dionesium which healed wounds and revived the dead. Within the pit, Joker grew a new face which he would go on to use during his endgame.
His face is indeed white like clowns' faces, but this is because he literally fell into a vat of acid, while real clowns (and the Red Triangle Gang) use face paint. He eschews the clown color scheme and doesn't wear a frilly collar or red nose, instead opting for a sleek purple and green suit.
Everyone knows Harley Quinn as the Jokers' girl, but how did she become Harley Quinn? Personality Disorder, specifically, Histrionic Personality Disorder plays a key part in Harley Quinn's life.
The Joker (or Arthur) appears to have a complex mix of diagnoses, including pseudobulbar affect – a rare condition consisting of uncontrollable laugher or crying, and possibly a psychotic illness, evidenced by his apparent hallucinations about the subject of his affections (played by Zazie Beetz).
Joe has criteria that correspond to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which is that he is often anxious about himself and the people he loves, so he cannot control his emotions to commit sadistic actions to kill people who he considers to interfere with the relationship between Joe and Beck.
Later, Arthur goes to Arkham State Hospital and steals his mother's records, and finds out that he was in fact adopted, and that Thomas Wayne is not his father and that Penny is not his true mother.
The make up is so white it makes clean teeth look yellow and nasty. So I firmly believe the way he's drawn is on purpose. They know that his teeth would appear yellow and grimy under all that makeup in real life, so he's drawn that way.
Heath Ledger passed away in 2008, leaving half of his reported $20 Million estate to his three sisters, and the other half to his parents. At the time of his death, however, he was already father to two-year-old Matilda, whom he shared with Michelle Williams.
In fact, sleep is a key theme in The Joker: Devil's Advocate, and the criminal clown says at one point: “It was hours before the screaming stopped. I almost didn't get to sleep that night.” This suggests that not only does he sleep, but that getting some shuteye is important to him.
