JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX Director Todd Phillips Says Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn Is Not Like the Comic Book Character
Director Todd Phillips found a new and interesting way to bring the comic book villain Joker to life in his first film, and now he is continuing that story in the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. This new story will see Arthur Fleck in a new phase, with a new leading lady.
Fans are familiar with the character Harley Quinn from the comics, movies, and TV shows, but this take, portrayed by actress and musician Lady Gaga, will be very different from any iteration we’ve seen before. Phillips said as much in a recent interview about the film with Variety, where he stated:
“The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away. We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”
Gaga has proven that she can belt out any style of music, and Phoenix, who once channeled Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line,” can also hold his own. But Phillips and his Joker: Folie à Deux stars wanted to create a more raw, more unstable sound, fluctuating between euphoria and despair, even if that occasionally required singing off-key.
Gaga said of the unconventional musical role:
“We asked ourselves what would need to be true for two people to just break into song in the middle of a conversation? Where does the music come from when no one can hear it but the characters? Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers, and they shouldn’t sound like they are.”
Phoenix agreed, saying, “It was important to me that we never perform the songs as one typically does in a musical. We didn’t want vibrato and perfect notes.” Instead, the goal was to do something “nerve-racking but honest.” The result is captivating in the way that Phoenix’s uninhibited trance dancing in the first Joker was so wildly arresting.
In many musicals, actors will sing along to a pre- recorded track. In this film, Phoenix and Gaga did everything live, accompanied by a piano player who performed off-camera, trying to keep up with whatever tempo they established. In the editing room, Phillips then tried to sync the radically different takes into a coherent whole, something that he describes as a “nightmare.”
“Particularly for Joaquin, so much of it is about feeling the moment as you do it,” Phillips says. “You can’t decide that in a sound studio three weeks before you show up to shoot it.”
Phoenix and Gaga are known for going to extremes to nail their performances: She spoke in an Italian accent throughout the shooting of House of Gucci; he shed 52 pounds for the first Joker (and he looks just as gaunt in the sequel). Did they go full Method on the set of this movie?
Phillips answered that question, saying:
“I don’t even really know what Method means. Does he take it seriously? Does she take it seriously? Hell, yeah. But he doesn’t stay in character 24 hours a day. With her, I’d say she does a lot more of that than he does. But as a director, I’m in favor of whatever it takes to get them to the place they need to be.”
Phillips has always been drawn to those moments where a character’s carefully cultivated facade cracks, unleashing a primal spirit.
“I love the chaos that comes with that. Most of us walk around with this version that we sort of present to the world, but there’s this shadow self. And I’m always fascinated with people when that mask slips off and this other side emerges.”
I think everyone who enjoyed the first film is on board to see how this sequel pans out. Are you looking forward to seeing it?
Joker: Folie á Deux is scheduled for release on October 4, 2024.