Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix will explore their wilder sides in psychological thriller Joker: For Do, a DC film that has been widely embraced by audiences as a musical. Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck, a socially isolated man who causes a series of disasters in Gotham City in the 2019 original. The sequel promises to delve deeper into the dark and turbulent world of the Clown Prince of Crime, introduce Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn and subvert the traditional storyline.
Fans know that Harley Quinn, aka Harleen Quinzel, was initially a psychiatrist who became infatuated with the Joker and eventually took on her wild persona. Their relationship, widely deemed unhealthy, takes a turn in the upcoming sequel, when Quinn, played by Lady Gaga, meets the Joker as a fellow patient at Arkham State Asylum. Their toxic relationship and shared insanity causes further havoc in Gotham City as music becomes a central theme in this sequel.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, Lady Gaga emphasized that in Joker: Folie à deux, “music is used to give the characters a vehicle to express what they want to say, because scenes and lines alone are not enough.” To best convey the essence of the music, Gaga came up with the idea of singing live on set, a move that Phoenix initially opposed. “Stephanie[Gaga]was like, ‘I’m going to sing it live,’ and I was like, ‘No, you’re not. If you want to sing it live, you can sing it,'” Phoenix told IndieWire.
Though the approach was met with skepticism, Phoenix felt compelled to go along with it to meet the demands of the character. “It really was the only way,” he said.
Joker: Folie à deux recently premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival where it received an 11-minute standing ovation. The DC film hits theaters on October 4.
Related article: Joker: Folie à Deux was far from a musical. Director details original plan
