Joker 2: Lady Gaga gets into method acting, insists on being addressed as 'Lee', short for Harley Quinn

Actor-singer Lady Gaga is completely engrossed and immersed in her role of ‘Lee’ on the sets of Joker: Folie à Deux, says her cinematographer. Lady Gaga, whose birth name is Stefani Germanotta, plays the character of Harley Quinn in the sequel to Joker. Gaga acts opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Joker 2, and her character has a toxic relationship with the Joker.

Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, who has worked on both Joker movies, talked about Lady Gaga in the film during his interview with ‘The Trenches Talk’ podcast.
She said that on the movie sets, he didn’t remember Lady Gaga / Stefani, because she was always in character. "I didn't know Stefani at all and, strangely, I felt like I never really met her even during the makeup/hair test," he said.

It got to the point that he thought he is not connecting with her on set because maybe they are on opposites. He thought she "either hates" him or "we hate each other or there's something weird going on here".

The two barely talked. It was when an assistant director told the cinematographer to address Lady Gaga as ‘Lee’, short for Harley, that he understood what was happening.

"And then literally the next thing I said was something 'Lee,' and it was like everything changed," revealed Sher. "From that point on it was like her whole connection changed and I was like, 'Well, alright, cool.' That's all I needed to know and that changed everything."

She went on to reveal that Joaquin Phoenix also stayed in character as the Joker in the first movie. "With him, I remember early on, he was like 100% in character all the time, and day two, he quietly came to me and he said, 'I'm sorry for being whatever, like weird. I just need to stay,'" Sher reminisced.

Sher told Phoenix to “stop apologizing” and “just do your thing. Don't worry about it all".

Lady Gaga’s method acting on House of Gucci

For her role in the fashion film House of Gucci, too, Lady Gaga was method acting. She told British Vogue in 2021 that she not only spent a whole nine months speaking in an Italian accent for her role of Patrizia Reggiani but also literally lived as her character for one-and-a-half years.

In fact, post the filming, she had a hard time adjusting to being herself and leading a normal life again. "I had some psychological difficulty at one point towards the end of filming," Gaga revealed.

While filming, she was either in her hotel room, where she was living and speaking as Reggiani or she was on set, living and speaking as the character.

Gaga remembers panicking when she stepped out into the city herself during that time. “I went out into Italy one day with a hat on to take a walk. I hadn't taken a walk in about two months, and I panicked," Gaga revealed.

FAQs

Q1:Where is Lady Gaga now?
The famous American singer Lady Gaga, born as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, continues to sing but she has transitioned into being a movie actor and seen in some notable films.

Q2:Is Lady Gaga married?
Lady Gaga has been dating techie and investor Michael Polansky for two years now. The singer has been engaged earlier but has never been married.