Lakeith Stanfield Wants to Play the 'Black Joker'

The 'Sorry To Bother You' actor is ready for an iconic role.

lakeith stanfield
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lakeith stanfield

Lakeith Stanfield is on a roll, and he knows where he wants to end up. In a new interview with Deadline, the always off-kilter scene-stealer said that he wants a chance to play the Clown Prince of Crime

During a discussion of his latest movie Sorry to Bother You, Stanfield noted how  excited he was that people dressed as his character Cassius Green on Halloween. While he appreciated the homemade looks, he has his sights set on the sort of character who ends up in a big-box store's costume aisle.

“I want people to dress up as me as black Joker, when that inevitably happens,” Stanfield said. “I just think there are so many things that haven’t been touched yet in terms of how the performance can be delivered.”

The ambitious actor isn't content just to take on one of the most famous faces in pop culture. He said that he'll play the role already inhabited by everyone from Jack Nicholson to Jared Leto “when I make the movie myself.”

Stanfield seemed to want the pressure of being a writer-director-actor. Even after noting some of the ways that the low-budget Sorry came apart at the seams, Stanfield was keen on the idea of running everything.  

“All directors are so different, they all have their own approach,” says Stanfield. “They all wear hats.” 

He's down to do it all even if the film ends up being “like, a really bad movie, that’s just horrible...bad transitions, weird stuff going on. Just like an unfolding mess of balls being dropped everywhere. I’d love to be in one of those.”

We've already seen Joker done a million ways. Why not a DIY, tape-and-spirit-gum villain tearing through cheap sets?

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