Joker
Lady Gaga wasn’t quite ready to let her Joker: Folie à Deux character go, so she created an accompanying 13-track album titled Harlequin.
Joker: Folie à Deux follows Phoenix’s return as Arthur Fleck, a.k.a the Joker, who is now confined in Arkham Asylum. There, he meets Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, and they form a powerfully chaotic bond with the goal of causing mayhem across Gotham City. Unlike the first Joker film, the sequel includes a series of musical numbers, which is where fans see Gaga in her element.
“This idea of dual identities was always something that was a part of my music making,” Gaga shared in a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe of the inspiration behind Harlequin. “I was always creating characters in my music and when I made Lee for Joker, she just really had this profound effect on me. The film had so much music in it, so much music that I love, and I was able to discover the character through the story, through the music that we did live every day as well as dance and the costumes and the makeup. So I kind of had this deep experience with the character and she just didn’t really leave me creatively and I decided I wanted to make a whole album inspired by her.”
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She continued, “She’s a really complex woman and I think, particularly as a woman in music and a female producer, it was really fun to go, ‘This album will be and I will be what I want, when I decide, whenever I feel like it. If I want it to be blues, it’ll be blues. If I want it to be funk, it’ll be funk. If I want it to be soul, it’ll be soul.’”
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The project features covers of old classics — including reimagined showtunes like “Good Morning” (Singing in the Rain) and “If My Friends Could See Me Now” (Sweet Charity) — and “celebrates a figure who thrives on danger, who lives for the undefinable, and who embraces the beautiful chaos of her own dreams,” per a press release. Harlequin also features two original songs, the dramatic waltz “Folie à Deux” and the acoustic ballad “Happy Mistake.”
“BloodPop and I had written this together and then I kind of took it to the next place,” she said of “Happy Mistake,” before adding, “It was all in the image of the character, but also kind of at the very core of her soul, which is really just me. Every character I play, it just has me as the gravity. I am wrestling, on that record, with a lot of feelings about so much that I’ve been through as an artist, everything I went through growing up in the public eye, and the industry since I was a teenager.”
Ultimately, Gaga says filming the Joker film with Phoenix was a “really soulful experience” for her. “It’s like these two people find love in this really dark place and it brings them all the light,” she explained.
Watch Zane Lowe’s full interview with Lady Gaga below. Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on Oct. 4.
The Joker and his Harley Quinn are sticking together until they end, and that sentiment is clear in a new teaser clip for Joker: Folie à Deux that was released by IMDb on Wednesday (Sept. 18). In the minute-long clip, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s characters are seen in an empty, concrete room. While the […]
There’s a new villain in town.
Joker: Folie à Deux premiered at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival this week, with stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga as well as director Todd Phillips in attendance to celebrate the film, which officially hits theaters on Oct. 4.
Unlike the first Joker film, for which Phoenix won an Oscar for best actor and Hildur Guðnadóttir won for best original score, Joker: Folie à Deux follows Phoenix’s return as Arthur Fleck, a.k.a the Joker, who is now confined in Arkham Asylum. There, he meets Gaga’s Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, and they form a powerfully chaotic bond with the goal of causing mayhem across Gotham City. Unlike the first Joker film, the sequel includes a series of musical numbers, which is where fans see Gaga in her element.
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While critics generally applauded Gaga’s subtle yet conniving Lee, many were actually hoping to see her more in the music-filled film, deeming her “underused.” See what critics had to say about Gaga’s performance in Joker: Folie à Deux below.
“Gaga is smartly low-key, not the Harley Quinn we associate with Margot Robbie, but her own person, dressed down and believably showing affection and connection with Joker and, more important, the man behind the makeup.” – Deadline
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“The casting of Lady Gaga certainly sounded promising, because she’s a great actor, and was put on earth (among other things) to make musicals. But Gaga, who has a lovely unforced presence in Folie à Deux, is drastically underused. Her Lee never quite takes wing.” – Variety
“Lady Gaga brings a sly and manipulative malice to her role: Harley is secretive, smart and genuinely disturbed in a way that Arthur/Joker perhaps isn’t. Is she to be the Lady Macbeth of DC supervillainy?” – The Guardian
“Gaga is a compelling live-wire presence, splitting the difference between affinity and obsession, while endearingly giving Arthur a shot of joy and hope that has him singing ‘When You’re Smiling’ on his way to court.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Gaga looks as if she’s a Manson girl who’s wandered off the set of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and plays Harleen with an appealingly feline cruelty.” – The Independent UK
“Phillips’ decision to cast a generational superstar in a role that seems designed to maximize both her supreme talents as a singer and her all-consuming screen presence as an actress just so he can sit her in the background of a courtroom whenever he’s not cutting her musical numbers off at the knees… well, it’s a lot more criminal than anything Arthur Fleck ever does in this movie.” – IndieWire
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Sony might’ve screwed the pooch when they attempted to give Marvel villains their own spin-off films that no one asked for (Venom, Morbius, Kraven The Hunter, etc.), but Warner Bros. struck box office gold when Joker hit theaters in 2019. With the sequel just a few months away, it’ll be interesting to see if they can replicate not only the box office receipts of the first, but also the critical acclaim as well.
Yesterday, Warner Bros. released it’s second trailer for the upcoming Todd Phillips film, which features Joaquin Phoenix’s iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime and his “infectious” laughter. Taking place after the events of the first installment, Joker: Folie Ą Deux finds Arthur Fleck aka The Joker locked up in Arkham Asylum awaiting trial for his many crimes. Surprisingly enough, there is where he meets his new love interest, Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), who not only brings the music out of his soul but also dances it away with him in what’s sure to be some interesting musical numbers.
Though Zazie Beetz might’ve rejected Arthur’s advances in the first film, it seems like Lady Gaga is more than happy to reciprocate Joker’s feelings in the sequel and join him on a Natural Born Killers-ish adventure that will lead to the Joker not only defending himself in court in full clown makeup, but also murder the judge?! We can’t wait for this musical.
Check out the latest trailer to Joker: Folie Ą Deux, and let us know if you’ll be checking for it when it hits theaters on Oct. 4 in the comments section below.
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Joaquin Phoenix’s iteration of the Joker in Todd Phillips’ 2019 film centered around the iconic Batman villain was arguably the greatest version of the Clown Prince of Crime moviegoers had seen to date (Heath Ledger is up there too). And though the film was originally said to be a one-off affair, fans of the film demanded more. Now, we’re getting a sneak peak of what to expect in the follow-up to the cult classic that captivated a comic book nation just a few years ago.
After months of anticipation, Warner Bros. has just released the first trailer for the upcoming JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX, which once again stars Phoenix as the titular character and Lady Gaga as the new Harley Quinn of the DCEU. Breaking ground as the first musical live-action comic book film made, the film will pick up where Joker left off as he was institutionalized at Arkham Asylum where he ultimately meets his counterpart in Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) who feeds off his crazy as he does hers.
Though plot details aren’t really known, it seems like the film will be a sort of Natural Born Killers affair as the two ultimately break out of Arkham Asylum and wreck havoc on the streets of Gotham City while singing show tunes and dancing away the pain of their past as they evade the law.
Seems like a hit to us.
Check out the trailer for JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX below, and let us know if you’ll be checking it out when it hits theaters Oct. 4.
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Joaquin Phoenix‘s Joker has found his Harley Quinn.
The first trailer for the much-anticipated sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, co-starring Lady Gaga as the infamous henchwoman, arrived Tuesday night (April 9).
“I’m nobody,” Gaga’s Harley tells Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck when they meet in the trailer, with a sweeping version of the 1965 Hal David and Burt Bacharach classic “What the World Needs Now Is Love” playing in the background. “I haven’t done anything with my life like you have.”
While “Love” is the only song we hear, we see the visuals of what appears to be multiple musical moments throughout the trailer. “We use music to make us whole, to balance the fractures within ourselves,” we hear Steve Coogan’s character say in voice-over.
Phoenix acknowledges his relationship with Gaga’s character in a separate scene with Coogan, saying, “I’ll tell you what’s changed: I’m not alone anymore.”
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In addition to Gaga, Phoenix and Coogan, the film also stars Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Catherine Keener (Incredibles 2) and Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin).
Variety previously reported that the Todd Phillips-directed film is “mostly a jukebox musical” that integrates at least 15 reinterpretations of “very well-known songs” and could contain one or two original soundtrack songs as well. The publication added that the film is expected to “break the mold of traditional musicals.”
Earlier in the week, fans got a first listen of Gaga’s voice as Harley Quinn. “You’re Joker… you can do anything you want,” the star is heard saying over a series of TikTok photos from the upcoming movie, including one of the Joker and Harley in a loving embrace with “the world is a stage” written across the top.
Folie à Deux follows the 2019 psychological thriller, Joker. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards in 2020, with Phoenix winning best actor and Hildur Guðnadóttir winning best original score.
Joker: Folie à Deux is out Oct. 4. Watch the first trailer below.
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The world is getting its first sneak peak at one of the most anticipated movies in history. Lady Gaga has shared a visual from The Joker sequel.
As per People Magazine Lady Gaga might have the Instagram post of the week. On Tuesday, February 14 the songstress took to social media to share the first look at the second installment of The Joker series. In the photo she is seen holding Joaquin Phoenix by his throat in what seems to be a personal moment of awe between the two. According to the press release the two are shown after a passionate kiss with her red lipstick smudge all over his face. The caption read “Folie à Deux”; which is the title to the sequel. The term is defined defined as “an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more individuals, usually the members of a close family.”
The “Bad Romance” singer will be playing Harley Quinn in the film. Margot Robbie, who first brought the character to life on the big screen in Suicide Squad showed her support to Lady Gaga in an interview with MTV News back in 2022. “It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor” she said.
Joker: Folie à Deux is slated for an October 2024 release.
Photo: Lady Gaga Instagram
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