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Joaquin Phoenix Thanks 'Favorite Actor' Heath Ledger While Accepting Award For 'Joker'

There have been so many Jokers over the years, from Cesar Romero in the original '60s series to Mark Hamill in the animated series.

From Jack Nicholson in the Tim Burton movies to Jared Leto.

Yes, we've seen a lot of Jokers... and today we acknowledge two of the best ones.

There is a lot of debate over who is the best Joker.

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Some people think it's Jack Nicholson, others think it was Heath Ledger.

Then there are the people that know it's Mark Hamill's voice. It's all a matter of opinion.

But there's been one more name added to the list...

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And that would be Joaquin Phoenix, who recently played the Joker in Joker.

He's also recently won a bunch of awards for the role, including recently Best Actor at the SAGs.

And during his speech, he was nice enough to pay tribute to another Joker.

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Heath Ledger, who passed away shortly after The Dark Knight came to theatres.

Ledger was the first Joker to ever win an Oscar for the role and lend some serious credibility to the character.

Here's the speech:

And it's about as heartwarming as you'd think. Phoenix ends it with praising his "favorite actor" Heath Ledger.

When one actor shows this much respect for another you can't help but feel as if there is still some hope left in this world.