Joaquin Phoenix Felt Nervous Everyday About Lady Gaga Duet in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’
Joaquin Phoenix was reportedly “sick with nerves every day” about singing alongside Lady Gaga on the set of Joker: Folie à Deux, according to the film’s director, Todd Phillips. The highly anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker is set to hit theaters on 4th October, following its premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival earlier this month (4th September), where early reactions have praised it as a potential “movie of the year.”
Phillips revealed that Phoenix had to perform his duet with Gaga just nine days into filming, but despite his anxiety, the two actors supported and guided each other throughout the process.
Image Courtesy: Variety
“The truth is, they gave each other pointers. He’d give her pointers about acting; she’s been in movies, but he’s Joaquin Phoenix,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “She gave him tips about music because she’s Lady Gaga. It’s what movies should be: a giant collaboration.”
Throughout ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’, Phoenix and Gaga perform several songs, including Sammy Davis Jr.’s ‘Gonna Build a Mountain’ and Judy Garland’s ‘Get Happy.’ These musical numbers primarily unfold within the mind of the protagonist, Arthur Fleck.
In another part of the interview, Phillips discussed whether Joker: Folie à Deux could be classified as a musical.
“I got a little heat for saying it’s not really a musical. I wasn’t saying that because I’m afraid of the term, ‘musical.’ I love musicals, and the movie definitely has music in it. It might even be a musical,” Phillips said. “To clarify, most of the times I’ve ever seen a musical, I walk out feeling better than I did when I walked in. On this movie, I’m not sure it’s the same thing. I wouldn’t want to be misleading and say you’re going to be whistling the songs from this movie on the way to your car after you see it.”
Later this week, Gaga is set to drop a companion album for the film titled Harlequin. The album will include covers of several jazz standards, such as ‘Oh, When The Saints,’ ‘Get Happy’ and ‘That’s Life,’ along with a few original songs featured in the movie.
In an interview with Vogue earlier this month, Gaga said that she drew on her own experiences when playing the character: “Harley Quinn is a character people know from the ether of pop culture. I had a different experience creating her, namely my experience with mania and chaos inside – for me, it creates a quietness. Sometimes women are labelled as these overly emotional creatures and when we are overwhelmed we are erratic or unhinged. But I wonder if when things become so broken from reality, when we get pushed too far in life, what if it makes you…quiet?”
However, last month Phillips hinted that Folie à Deux will likely be the final film in the Joker series: “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
–Silviya.Y
