Lady Gaga says there's something “completely liberating” about playing Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux

What's the hardest way to follow up an incurably dark, billion-dollar, Oscar-winning, blockbuster superhero movie without superheroes? Of course, add some live songs and dance routines. That's what Joaquin Phoenix said the team behind expected Joker: Folie à Deux decided to make a decision that terrified the notoriously fearless actor from day one.

“How could we make the music as honest as possible?” he asked in a joint interview with co-star Lady Gaga and director Todd Phillips, which was broadcast further Good morning America on Friday (September 27) about the bold decision to have untrained singer Phoenix and Grammy winner Gaga sing together live on stage during the film's fantasy sequences. “When we started, I didn't want anything spontaneous and I wanted to sound as good as possible,” said Phoenix, who was previously described as “sick” and nervous about singing alongside Gaga.

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Phoenix noted that it was Gaga's idea to do it live, which he said sounded great for her since that's what she does for a living. “You were really cool and kind of made me feel good about it,” he said, and Gaga added, “I can assure you that Joaquin, with his natural voice, was just way more convincing than any lip sync would ever be.”

While Phoenix said he just didn't want his Joker run to end after his Oscar-winning first appearance as down-and-out clown Arthur Fleck in 2019's “Intense Movie.” jokerGaga said that the original film really interested her in entering the insane world of Phoenix and director Phillips. “I loved Arthur so much, like, who would be the love of his life?” The singer said she asked herself.

Plus, she added, there was something “completely liberating” about playing Quinn, including being able to sneak some parts of herself into the character that had always been a little embarrassing or private to her. “When I first saw the movie I thought, 'Oh, that's in there!' “This part of me that I don't want anyone to know about,” Gaga said of her third starring role in a major motion picture following her 2018 breakthrough A star is born and a strong performance in the all-star ensemble in 2021 House of Gucci.

Although she always seems poised and powerful, Gaga said that the moments where she sees herself in Quinn are when her character “seems so uncomfortable…she's like on the edge.” There have definitely been times in my life when in which I felt that way.”

What was even more challenging was that Gaga recorded a whole thing jokertheme album, harlequinis out today, voicing her character Harley Quinn on a series of classic covers and some originals. “Lee is not a performer and I am, and in a scene with another character it's just completely different,” Gaga said of what separates the Joker's equally unusual love from Gaga's stage persona.

“It's Lee's reality, it's their shared reality, it comes from this character, not from me as a performer,” she said. “I don’t just sing like that in this film, I also sing with my full voice.”

The 13-track album features a number of Harley covers of “Good Morning” (by Singing in the rain), “If my friends could see me now” (Sweet charity), as well as a soul-funk version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” (here titled “Oh, When the Saints”), “That's Entertainment”, “Close to You” by the Carpenters and “World on a String”. “ as well as two originals, “Folie à Deux” and the rocking “The Joker”.

The surprise companion album to the film was recorded alongside the sessions for Gaga's upcoming, as-yet-untitled seventh studio album, due out in February. A first single will be released next month. Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on October 4th

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