12 Actors Who Should Play The Joker In Scorsese's Origin Movie

2. Jack Gleeson

Since he made a sharp and harrowing exit from Game Of Thrones, Joffrey actor Jack Gleeson has mostly dropped off the face of the Earth, seemingly sticking to his 2014 vow to retire completely from the industry (aside from one puppet show, Bears In Space).

If he follows through on that promise, the industry will be robbed of a very gifted actor (though with type-casting a major issue, he might feel like he got out at the right time), and one who would be a great candidate to play a young Joker in the origin.

There is something familiar in Joffrey's evil (for which Gleeson channelled Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Commodus in Gladiator) that flirts with the line between accepted high society behaviour and the burning blood lust beneath his surface that we see bubble out at times. That would be a great way to establish the Joker - to have him be the personification of a break from reality for someone struggling with balance.

And in that respect, few character actors could do it better.