Joker: Folie à Deux Star Had to Convince Lady Gaga to “Sing Poorly”

The premiere of Joker: Folie à Deux is right around the corner, and the early reactions to the DC-inspired film have been pretty surprising. The film chronicles the love story between Arthur Fleck / Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), with musical elements and homages to classic Hollywood sprinkled in. While the majority of these musical numbers have not been showcased in Folie à Deux‘s trailers, fans of Gaga’s decades-long career as a pop star have been excited to hear how she will deliver in the film — and apparently, it won’t be what we’re expecting. In a recent interview with Vogue, Phoenix and Gaga spoke about how she had to learn to “sing poorly” while filming Folie à Deux, to better match Harleen’s energy with her singing voice.

“I encouraged her to sing poorly,” Phoenix revealed. “I remember asking her to sing without her vibrato. She has a beautiful vibrato — too beautiful. I think she felt naked without it. But as soon as she moved away from technique she unlocked her character’s voice.”

“I worked really hard on that, kind of trying to undo all my technique,” Gaga echoed. “I mean, Ally Maine in A Star Is Born is a singer and it’s a movie about people who make music,” she said. “That is not what this film is about at all.”

What Is Joker 2 About?

Joker: Folie à Deux will be a musical that follows the twisted romance between Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn, with a lot of the film believed to be taking place within Arkham Asylum. Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux will also feature appearances from Zazie Beetz, Brendon Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland.

“I actually think it makes wonderful sense,” Beetz previously said of the film’s musical elements. “I wasn’t really surprised by that Todd has always had a creative approach to the character. I love musicals, and I think of them as the characters are feeling and experiencing so much that they can only sing and dance about it, whether in sorrow or in joy. And I can actually see that within myself as well, because singing and dancing is quite a cathartic experience for me. I was going through a really, really difficult time at one point in my life, and I just started dancing and crying by myself. And that was an expression that matched where I was at that moment. And so, I can see Arthur, who is feeling and experiencing so much, dancing and singing about it. He’s the Joker, so I think it makes sense to me.”

Is Joker 2 in the DC Universe?

Joker: Folie à Deux is technically classified as a DC Elseworlds production, meaning that it exists in a canon outside of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s forthcoming DC Universe of movies and Max-exclusive television shows. In a previous post on the social media platform Threads, Gunn revealed his involvement in Folie a Deux, explaining that he did give notes on the finished footage. That being said, Gunn did stress that the Joker sequel is one of the few upcoming DC films being shepherded by Warner Bros. Pictures, given when the film was first put into development.

“Todd had Joker in full swing by the time we came onboard – I’ve watched and given notes, but it is mostly with WB, where it started,” Gunn wrote at the time. “Everything forward in live-action we’re involved with.”

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, October 4th.