Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment

No joke: Joaquin Phoenix is now part of Oscar history.

After winning the best actor award, Phoenix is now the second person to win an Oscar for playing comic book villain The Joker. The first person to win for playing the character was the late Heath Ledger, who posthumously won for playing Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

This is the second time two actors have won Oscars for playing the same character.

In 1972, Marlon Brando won a best actor Oscar for playing Vito Corleone.

Two years later, Robert De Niro won best supporting actor for playing a younger version of the character.