Earlier today we spoke with the absolutely lovely Joaquin Phoenix about his brilliant new film "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot." That film, which reunites him with his "To Die For" director Gus Van Sant, is a postcard-sized character study of American cartoonist John Callahan. Just yesterday it was announced that he'd officially signed on to something much, much bigger: Warner Bros' standalone 'Joker' film, to be directed by Todd Phillips and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

We couldn't help but ask the actor why, when he'd been very publicly courted for lead role in Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange," he would sign on to do this comic book adaptation instead.

"Well, the one thing that only consistently motivates me is the character and the filmmaker. And so it just has happened that those things have never come together for a bigger movie but I'm not opposed to any genre or any size of film," Phoenix explained. "I typically make films that are maybe more independent, that's where I've found the most interesting characters and the things I want to pursue, but I'm not opposed to any film. But I will say that I don't think you can equate this movie with some of those other movies that you've talked about."

When we asked if this would be something completely different, Phoenix wryly shot back, "I don't know what it's going to be. So I'll just leave it at that."

"Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot" opens in select theaters this week (it's really, really great).