“I didn’t know Stefani at all”: What Lady Gaga Did for Joker 2 Will Make Christian Bale, Joaquin Phoenix Proud
Singer-turned-actor Lady Gaga needs no introduction with respect to her songs and her acting prowess. She was introduced to the world of light, action, and camera with Bradley Cooper’s directorial venture A Star Is Born in 2018. Post Prime Video’s House Of Gucci in 2021, Lady Gaga is gearing up with one of the most anticipated projects Joker 2 alongside Joaquin Phoenix.
Lady Gaga is gradually stepping into the shoes of method actors like Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix for the upcoming sequel of Joker.
Lady Gaga Takes Joker 2 Seriously As She Gets Into Method Acting Like Christian Bale And Joaquin Phoenix
During an appearance on “The Trenches Talk” podcast Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Lawrence Sher spoke about the different side of Lady Gaga unknown to the world. He revealed that the Grammy award winner did not warm up to her until he addressed her as Lee, a nickname for her character Harley Quinn in the upcoming project. He referred to Lady Gaga by her real name Stefani Germanotta and said-
“I didn’t know Stefani at all. Strangely, I felt like I never even met her, even during the makeup/hair tests. Maybe it was my philosophy of not trying to get in their space. And then I remember for a week, being like, ‘God, I feel like we are disconnecting. Not even connecting. We are like on opposites.’ And I would say to my crew, ‘Jesus, I can’t crack it. She either hates me or we hate each other. There’s something weird going on here.’”
He further continued to say-
“I barely said anything, except I would say, ‘Stefani, this is where your second team was,’ minor little things, and then the AD at one point said, ‘Oh you know, Stef would like if you just called her Lee on set, and I was like, 100 percent. The next thing I said was something like ‘Lee,’ and it was like everything changed. From that point on, it was like she was…our whole connection changed. I was like, alright, cool.”
With Todd Phillips’ back on the director’s chair, the second installment of Joker’s cast includes Harry Lawtey, Brendan Gleeson, Jacob Lofland, and Catherine Keener. Joker was released in 2019. With 11 nominations, Joker took the front seat at the 92nd Academy Awards. With a production budget of $55–70 million, Joker went on to amass a whopping box office collection of $1.07 billion.
Christian Bale Revealed His Method Acting Came From Legendary Actor Rowan Atkinson
Christian Bale is one of the most versatile actors Hollywood has ever produced. The Academy Award winner is quite popular for his method acting skills in the entertainment industry. During an interview with GQ in 2019, The Machinist actor revealed that he was never a trained actor, instead, he was influenced by Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean. He said-
Well, thank you, mate. Did you ever train? See, I never trained. And I’ve come to the realization recently… One of [my] first jobs ever was with Rowan Atkinson and I think I look at him as the template. He was playing… The Nerd, it was called, by Larry Shue. He would come out, and we’d say hello, but he didn’t really socialize. None of us knew him – it was before he did Mr Bean.
He further mentioned-
And he would just become this character, but before he went on stage. And I would just watch him; I would see him becoming a character. I was mesmerized. And then he just stayed in character for the whole night. And it wasn’t until the whole thing was finished that he invited me to say hello and that I actually spoke to him for the first time. It dawned on me that this was my learning phase. I went, “Oh, that’s how it’s done then, is it? OK, great.”
With a net worth of $120 million, Christian Bale’s brilliant filmography is enamored with a list of critical and commercial blockbusters.
