When the World of One Piece and DC Collides, Sanji’s Voice Actor Puts on the Joker Ink For Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: Folie à Deux

Voice acting plays a crucial role in bringing characters to life, whether it is anime, video games, or any big-budget live-action movie. It might seem like reading lines from outside, but it is a whole different art form that requires embodying a character. 

Japanese voice actor Hiroaki Hirata is popular for giving voice to One Piece character Sanji. He has also voiced for Sha Gojyo in Saiyuki, Mutta Nanba in Space Brothers, and in many other anime series. But his work in Joker was loved by many, and it looks like he is ready for it once again.

Sanji’s Voice Actor Takes on Arthur Fleck for Joker: Folie à Deux

In cases of big franchises like One Piece and Joker, the voice behind the characters becomes as memorable as the characters themselves. Especially in the case of international releases, it becomes necessary to preserve cultural nuances, and voice artists have the most important role in this.

On one hand, the One Piece manga is revealing the true powers of Imu-sama, while the anime is progressing through the Egghead arc. On the other hand, Joker: Folie à Deux will be continuing the dark psychological depths and crime world of Gotham through Arthur Fleck.

Though these two worlds are nothing similar, Hiroaki Hirata is ready to become the common thread between them once again. He will again voice Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker in the Japanese version of Joker: Folie à Deux. Hirata shared a photo on social media where he is seen in Joker-inspired makeup with half of his face painted white with red and blue.

★『ジョーカー：フォリ・ア・ドゥ』吹き替えキャスト発表記念特別暴露コーナーっ💃

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

前作の公開を記念して新年のご挨拶に使わせて貰った写真ですが⋯⋯ pic.twitter.com/UEtYNcYJnd

— ひらたプロダクションジャパン（平田広明） (@hiratapro) September 10, 2024

However, Hirata has experience working on big-budget Hollywood projects before, as he voiced Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, Jason Bourne in the Bourne Trilogy, and even Joey Tribbiani from FRIENDS.

However, handling the psycho-temperamental, dark, but tragic villain of Gotham is always a challenge for him as none of his other characters is as challenging as this one. This crossover is more than just a fun fact about the show and the movie. It explains how voice actors can actually make the audience accept a foreign character especially when it comes to an international movie.

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s Script Changes For Joker: Folie à Deux

While voice actors usually get a final script to dub the voices after the filming is done, actors often go through multiple changes in scripts and reshoots, especially in such big-budget franchises that carry so many expectations from fans.

Joker: Folie à Deux will feature Phoenix and Lady Gaga together for the first time. The audience has a brief idea of how Phoenix’s Joker will be, as they have seen him earlier. But the major excitement lies with Gaga’s portrayal of Harley Quinn.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the singer-actor said that “it was a really cool, liberating process” for her. Talking about her performance, director Todd Phillips told Variety,

Gaga is that she really holds her own, both off camera when we’re in the trailer tearing things apart — which she probably spent the night before learning — but also on camera. It was not a small feat.

Phillips revealed that Phoenix and Gaga made multiple changes in the script if they felt like something was not good enough. The actors would gather in Phoenix’s trailer and have a meeting until they would come up with something suitable.

Joker: Folie à Deux will pick up after the events of Joker. After killing late-night host Murray Franklin live on TV, Arthur Fleck is taken to Arkham Asylum, where he meets Gaga’s Quinn, and their romance will take the story forward.

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in theaters on October 2, 2024.

One Piece is available to watch on Crunchyroll.