After the first became one of the highest-grossing R-rated movies ever, expectations were high for Joker: Folie à Deux. Sadly, the sequel didn't manage the same benchmark, critically or commercially, and Lady Gaga, who plays love interest Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel in the film, remembers finding the reaction quite absurd.
She reflected on the saga for Rolling Stone, discussing how she internalized being in something so divisive. "I wasn't, like, unfazed," she says. "It's funny, I'm almost nervous to share my reaction. But the truth is, when it first started happening, I started laughing. Because it was just getting so unhinged."
Where a huge audience gravitated toward the violence and anarchic nature of Joker, they were practically the opposite for Folie à Deux. Making it a musical was a bold move to start, the set-pieces and grand spectacle making the whole thing much more upbeat than the grim and gritty predecessor, not to mention minimizing the gorgeous, gloomy strings of Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Director Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the script for Joker 2 with Scott Silver, clearly had a different vision for what another installment should look like compared to a lot of Joker’s fans. Sitting at just 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, from both critics and the general audience, Joker: Folie à Deux finished in cinemas with a global taking of just over $207 million, a far cry from the billion-dollars-plus Joker brought.
To be fair, Gaga was brilliant opposite Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck in the twisted gothic halls of Arkham. She brought incredible energy to the song performances, complementing Phoenix as needed. The long tail of criticism toward the film did take its toll on the multi-hyphenate.
"When it takes a while for something to kind of dissipate, that can be a little bit more painful," she adds. "Only because I put a lot of myself into it." Gaga will return to the big screen next year for The Devil Wears Prada 2.
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