Joaquin Phoenix Pays Tribute to Heath Ledger At SAG Awards

Etonline.com: Another awards season win, another chance for an acceptance speech only Joaquin Phoenix could deliver.

During Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, Phoenix won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his turn as the would-be Clown Prince of Crime, Arthur Fleck, in Joker. As he accepted the Actor statuette, he began by opening up about what the win means to him.

"I was here many years ago and I couldn’t fully appreciate it at the time," he said. "I now realize how fortunate I am to be part of this community that has such reverence for actors and what we do."

Phoenix then went on to applaud his fellow nominees by revealing how tough it was to beat Leonardo DiCaprio at auditions. "We’d always lose to this one kid. It’s Leonardo," he said to applause and laughter before moving on to Christian Bale. "Christian, you commit to your roles in ways I could only dream of... You never turn in a bad performance. It’s infuriating."

When it came to Adam Driver, he said he is "devastating" Marriage Story, and "should be here," before turning to Taron Egerton. "You’re so beautiful in this movie and I’m so happy for you," he said to the Rocketman star.

Phoenix also ended his speech on a poignant note, paying tribute to the late Heath Ledger, who portrayed the Joker in The Dark Knight. "Really, I’m standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor: Heath Ledger," he said.