At the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Joaquin Phoenix took home the honor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck in 2019's Joker. During his acceptance speech, Phoenix not only paid tribute to his fellow nominees, but also the late Heath Ledger -- who himself played the Clown Prince of Crime in 2008's The Dark Knight.

Upon taking the podium, the Puerto Rican-born actor sung the praises of the four actors he was up against: Ford v Ferrari's Christian Bale (also the Dark Knight trilogy's Batman), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's Leonardo DiCaprio, Marriage Story's Adam Driver and Rocketman's Taron Egerton.

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After speaking highly of his competitors, Phoenix then took the time to give a very special shoutout to Ledger. "Really, I'm standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor, Heath Ledger," he said.

Years before Phoenix received widespread acclaim for his performance as Batman's would-be arch-nemesis in Joker, Ledger was met with similar praise for his now-iconic portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. However, Ledger tragically passed away in January of 2008 at the age of 28 -- six months before the film hit theaters. At the 81st Academy Awards in early 2009, Ledger posthumously received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Just over a decade later, and Phoenix -- who clearly thinks very highly of Ledger and his version of the character -- is now up for Best Leading Actor at this year's Oscars for the same role.

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Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais and Shea Whigham. The film is currently available on Digital HD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and DVD.

(via E!)