'Joker' star dropped over 50 pounds for role: 'There's something very empowering about it'

Joaquin Phoenix visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote his new film Joker, Tuesday. The actor lost 52 pounds for the role, which he described as “empowering.”

When asked about the weight loss, Phoenix said, “It is difficult at times, but then there's something very empowering about it.”

Phoenix claimed he was exhausted at the beginning of his weight loss journey. “You look at a flight of stairs and it takes 30 seconds,” recalled Phoenix, “You have to talk yourself into it, ‘I can do this, I know I can do this.’”

While the struggle was hard, the reward was sweet. “Once you've reached your target weight, I don't know what happens,” said Phoenix, It's incredible, you suddenly feel energized and excited.”

Phoenix also revealed that one of the hardest aspects of losing weight was the impact it had on his social life. “We don't realize, all of our activities revolve around food and drink,” said Phoenix, “And if you don’t have that people are like, ‘F***, are we just gonna talk?’”

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on ABC.

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