Sure, Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck (aka The Joker) in 2020. But even an award-winning actor gets nervous on set when he has to sing in front of one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Luckily for Phoenix, when it came time to voice the greasepaint goon, his partner in crime, Lady Gaga, was totally there for him.
“I seem to remember her spitting out the coffee the first time I sang, so it felt good, it was exciting and it made me feel confident,” Phoenix said. Empire magazine about the Grammy-winning singer's reaction on the set of the upcoming Joker follow, Joker: Folie à Deux. “Gaga was always very encouraging, saying, 'Go with what you feel, it's fine.' For someone who's not a performer in that way, it can be… awkward to do that, but also very exciting.”
It was important that they bond like this because director Todd Phillips wanted to bring the music from the Joker, who at his core is a plumber, a failed comedian whose violent deeds land him in Arkham Asylum, where he begins a lyrical love story with Harley Gaga's “Lee” Quinzel aka Harley Quinn.
“Arthur has become this icon for people,” Phillips told the magazine. “This reluctant, unwilling symbol is now paying for the crimes of the first film, but at the same time he's finding the only thing he ever wanted, which was love. That's always been his thing, even though he's been pushed and pulled in all these directions. So we tried to make the cleanest version of that.”
That expression of love comes through in musical numbers in the film because, as Phillips said, Fleck has “music in him,” which explains why the latest trailer has Gaga singing the classic tune “Get Happy” and Phoenix tackles 'When You' re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)' in Fleck's ragged style.
“It was important to protect it with bad phrasing and occasional bum notes,” Phoenix said in a recent interview with Gaga where she admitted to deliberately putting on her award-winning voice to get into character. “Arthur grew up listening to his mother play these songs on the radio. He is not a singer and should not sound like a professional singer. It should sound like someone taking a shower and bursting into song.”
Joker: Folie à Deux will open in theaters on October 4.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/joaquin-phoenix-lady-gaga-spit-up-coffee-first-time-sing-joker-folie-a-deux-1235743633/