Todd Phillips compares Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn to Charles Manson
Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips has compared Lady Gaga’s portrayal of Harley Quinn to cult leader and murderer Charles Manson.
Phillips first brought his interpretation of the DC supervillain to our screens back in 2019 with Joker. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as the titular character was widely praised, even winning him the award for ‘Best Actor’ at the Academy Awards.
Phoenix returns to his leading role for the sequel, while Zazie Beetz reprises her role as Sophie Dumond, who he hallucinates his romantic involvement with. New additions to the cast include Brendan Gleeson, Steve Coogan, and popstar Lady Gaga, who takes on the iconic role of Harley Quinn.
Many viewers will already be familiar with Harley, either through her appearances in the original comic books or through Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the character in the DCEU, but Phillips has asserted that this is a new interpretation of the character. Speaking with Empire, he stated, “While there are some things that people would find familiar in her, it’s really Gaga’s own interpretation, and Scott [Silver, co-writer] and I’s interpretation.”
The director went on to compare Gaga’s take on the character to cult leader Charles Manson. “She became the way how [Charles] Manson had girls that idolised him,” he stated, “The way that sometimes these [imprisoned murderers] have people that look up to them.”
While Phillips acknowledged that some elements of Harley have been borrowed from the character in the comics, he specified, “but we took it and moulded it to the way we wanted it to be.”
The sequel will maintain the gritty feeling of the original but also feature some more musical moments. A recent trailer provided a glimpse at Gaga and Phoenix singing ‘Get Happy’ and recreated the stairs dance scene from the first movie. “You can do anything you want,” Gaga’s Harley declares in the trailer. You’re Joker.”
The film is set to premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival in September. After the award success of the first film, Joker: Folie à Deux seems like it may be in the running for the Golden Lion. Joker took the award home back in 2019, alongside two Oscars, three BAFTAs, and two Golden Globes.
Following its premiere at the festival, the film is scheduled to hit cinemas in the United States on October 4th, 2024. The trailer is out now.
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