It’s a big month for Lady Gaga fans! She stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix as Lee Quinzel in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’, which premieres this Thursday (October 3rd). And just last weekend, she released ‘Harlequin’ – the accompanying album for the film. The superstar arrived at the Joker premiere in London last week and hosted a private listening party for fans to hear the album. Between these two events, Vogue sat down with the October cover star as she revealed details about her creative process for both projects.
The music created inspired by the film was one of the topics of discussion; the conceptual album features tracks like ‘Smile’, ‘The Joker’, and ‘That’s Life’. She produced the record with her fiancé, Michael Polansky. “’Harlequin’ is my interpretation of all the music from the film, as well as some original music,” she says. “We went through a really special experience making ‘Joker’ together. I didn’t finish with Lee when I finished filming the movie.”
The original song, ‘Happy Mistake’, emerged as a favorite for the singer and actress. “That song is a very personal vision of the human who played Lee,” Gaga explains, “and my relationship with playing broken women throughout my career in different ways.”
As the album plays and excitement for the film continues before its release, Gaga hopes both projects resonate with her Little Monsters in the same way they have resonated with her. “I have incredible fans. Seeing them in London tonight was so much fun,” Gaga says. “They already had the Harley Quinn cover prints, and they did their makeup. That was so cool to see. It was a really special and exciting experience to deliver the film to the world,” she says. “Arianne Phillips and I worked together on styling this film; we had a difficult task, because there’s an idea people have of Harley Quinn, and we wanted to create something completely new. The clothes were kind of childish, indicative of a younger mind.”
Gaga also addressed her red carpet look for the London premiere – a custom red Celine dress with a matching puff-sleeve bolero jacket. Given that she and stylist Hedi Slimane have a history in fashion, he was a natural choice for her first Joker press tour look. “We’ve known each other for a long time – he shot me for the cover of my ‘The Fame Monster’ album,” she continues. “[The look] was meant to be elegant and a little rebellious. “Two things I love!”
