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This 'Joker' star's theory could change the film completely (spoilers)

Zazie Beetz attends a screening of "Joker" during the 57th annual New York Film Festival. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)
Zazie Beetz attends a screening of "Joker" during the 57th annual New York Film Festival. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

Note: This article contains spoilers for Joker.

Joker star Zazie Beetz has shared her theory on the film, and it potentially changes everything about the way the story is told.

Beetz, who portrays a neighbour of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, told The Hollywood Reporter that almost everything depicted in the movie could simply be a figment of Fleck’s imagination.

She said: “I think that the entire film is all through Arthur’s point of view, almost the entire thing, so, to an extent, you can question the interpretation of anything in this film.”

Read more: Famous actors who almost played the Joker

Joker flirts with the notion of what’s real and what isn’t throughout its running time, and Beetz’s character, Sophie, is at the centre of that.

Joaquin Phoenix is being tipped for Oscar glory for his performance as Arthur Fleck in 'Joker'.
Joaquin Phoenix is being tipped for Oscar glory for his performance as Arthur Fleck in 'Joker'.

Fleck imagines an entire relationship with her, based on a single conversation they have while sharing the lift up to their respective apartments.

But her character’s specific role is not the only thing that Deadpool 2 star Beetz believes could be taking place inside the protagonist’s head.

Read more: Inside the preparation to play the Joker

“I think the movie just really shifted into something where it’s all coming from his brain,” she said.

“In the end, isn’t it all up for questioning? What is reality or what isn’t reality as he questions his own reality and his own existence in the world?”

Joaquin Phoenix brings interpretive dance to his lead role in 'Joker'.
Joaquin Phoenix brings interpretive dance to his lead role in 'Joker'.

Despite controversy prior to its release, Joker is already a bona fide success at the box office, breaking the all-time October opening record — set last year by Venom — with its $93.5m (£76m) domestic debut.

Read more: Ledger’s Joker at the centre of most iconic movie moment

The film won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, and is being talked about as a major Oscar contender, with sequel ideas inevitably swirling as well.

Director Todd Phillips, who was previously best known as the man behind the Hangover trilogy, has shut down rumours of a sequel, saying there is “no plan” for a follow-up movie.