Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size If you did not know that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm created the comic book villainess Harley Quinn for a Batman television series in 1992, you could be forgiven for thinking that the character in the new film Joker: Folie à Deux – a singer with an emerging dual identity who uses her artistry as an act of rebellion – was written for Lady Gaga.
Behind her very subtle clown make-up in Todd Phillips’ new take on the iconic comic book villain Joker, lurks the complex Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, just as behind Joker’s garish white, green and red paint is the tortured Arthur Fleck. And behind Lady Gaga, the superstar, we sit down to talk to 38-year-old New York-born Stefani Germanotta. Or do we? Lady Gaga remains her preferred form of address when she’s working.
But in truth, you’re never quite sure. “What I created in my musical career was, in a lot of ways, the great rebellion of my life,” Gaga says. “That’s mirrored in a lot of ways in this character; I would say that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to do the film.
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie a Deux. “How do we weaponise our identity to communicate and maybe say things that we don’t know how to say when we’re not that other person?” Gaga adds. “Arthur is this character.