Joker: Folie à Deux director of photography explains why Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn will be the perfect match for Joaquin Phoenix’s titular character. Todd Phillips’ joker, released in 2019, it became one of the biggest films of the year, despite controversy for its debut. Starring Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, aka the titular Clown Prince of Crimejoker gave a new look at the DC Comics character with a psychological character study of the classic villain’s descent into insanity.
Despite functioning well as a single episode, joker has now spawned an upcoming sequel, Foil a Deux. News of the sequel has revealed that Phillips will continue to explore new possibilities and twists on the character in the next film, which was billed as a musical and will star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The teaser trailer for joker 2 showed that the film will lean on the romance of Arthur and Harley and may show a new side of the infamous DC pairing. While many were surprised by the choice to cast the popular musician and actor in the film, Gaga’s public persona, acting chops and musical talents make her a strong choice for the role in the eyes of a crew member.
During a performance on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Behind the screen podcast, the DP for Foil à Deux, Lawrence Sher, explained why Gaga will star in the role of Harley. Sher stated that Gaga will “create a similar kind of magic that Joaquin brought,” tease another breakout performance in the franchise. See Sher’s full quote below:
“She will be a really cool fit for this movie and will create a similar kind of magic that Joaquin herself brought. The combination of the two will be exactly what we hope, which is exciting, and we will find magic on set every day. Hopefully we’ll get a little madness there too. We like it when there is a bit of chaos.”
What to Expect from Gaga’s Harley Quinn
Based on Sher’s comments, Gaga’s version of Harley will bring some of the chaos which the character is famous for, while also matching the electrical energy of Phoenix on screen. The joker actor was praised for his dedication to his performance and even won an Oscar for the role, raising the bar for his co-star in Foil a Deux. Thankfully, Gaga is a formidable on-screen presence in her own right, so it’s likely that the couple’s scenes together will bring equal parts of intensity and excitement. The pair’s traditional dynamics in previous adaptations have been abusive and toxic, but Phoenix’s joker is less inherently villainous than previous versions, with his mental illness and lifelong struggle as the catalyst for his crimes. Because of Phoenix’s fresh characterization of the comic book villain, his Joker’s relationship with Harley is likely to take a new turn, possibly with a kinder, if still twisted, kind of love.
Based on the news that Joker: Folie à Deux will act as a musical and Arthur’s hallucinations from the original movie, it’s possible that the entire film will function as a fantasy sequence, meaning that Gaga’s Harley will either match Arthur’s perception of reality, be spellbound by it, or exist outside of it differently, like Zazie Beetz’s character in the first film. Unlike Margot Robbie’s version of Harley, Gaga is in Joker: Folie à Deux will likely be darker to match the tone of the Phillips movies, and more unstable due to the movie’s title, which translates to “foolishness of two” or “shared madness.” While the reception of Gaga’s performance as Harley remains to be seen, Joker: Folie à Deux will be a completely unique cinematic experience.
Source: THR
