Lady Gaga transforms her voice for 'Joker: Folie à Deux'

Lady Gaga transformed her singing voice to portray Harley Quinn in the upcoming film Joker: Folie à Deux, a musical sequel starring alongside Joaquin Phoenix.

In an interview with Empire magazine, Gaga shared that her vocal approach in the movie was a departure from her previous work.

“People know me by my stage name, Lady Gaga, right? That’s me as that performer, but that is not what this movie is; I’m playing a character,” she explained.

“So I worked a lot on the way that I sang to come from Lee and to not come from me as a performer.”

Given that the soundtrack will be woven into the plot, the A Star Is Born actress knew that the music must be handled carefully.

“How do you take music and have it just be an extension of the dialogue, as opposed to breaking into song for no conceivable reason?” Gaga asked. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

This prompted the vocalist of Shallow to explore a new aspect of her performance that her audience had never seen before.

“For me, there’s plenty of bum notes, actually, from Lee,” she said, with a laugh, of her singing voice in the movie.

“I’m a trained singer, right? So even my breathing was different when I sang as Lee. When I breathe to sing onstage, I have this very controlled way to make sure that I’m on pitch, and it’s sustained at the right rhythm and amount of time, but Lee would never know how to do any of that. So it’s like removing the technicality of the whole thing, removing my perceived art form from it all and completely being inside of who she is.”

The upcoming film Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to the 2019 Academy Award-winning Joker, follows the story of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a struggling comedian who finds love with Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) while being held at Arkham State Hospital.

Upon the release, the pair sets out on a tragic and ill-fated romantic journey. Director Todd Phillips also shared with Empire magazine how Lady Gaga's portrayal of Harley Quinn offers a fresh and distinct spin on the iconic character, deviating from previous interpretations.

Joker: Folie à Deux will hit theaters on October 4.