“She’s going to blow your mind”: Lady Gaga Could Be On Her Way to Win Her Second Oscar For ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’, Casting Director’s Comments Reveal
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, is one of the highly anticipated musical romance-psychological thriller movies of 2024. In the sequel to 2019’s Joker, the second part will see Phoenix reprising his character as Joker, while Lady Gaga will portray his love interest Harley Quinn.
DC Studios’ co-CEO James Gunn confirmed in February 2023 that Joker: Folie à Deux is going to be part of DC Elseworlds projects. The Elseworlds projects will take place outside the main DC Universe created by Gunn and Peter Safran. Batman: Part II is also a part of DC Elseworlds. A recent comment from a very famous casting director has hinted that Lady Gaga might have given her career’s best performance in the upcoming movie.
Francine Maisler reveals Lady Gaga is ‘so good’ in Joker: Folie à Deux
Popular casting director Francine Maisler appeared at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, where she couldn’t stop praising Lady Gaga for her performance in Joker: Folie à Deux. The casting director revealed that she recently saw a cut of Todd Phillips’ movie, and she couldn’t stop thinking about how good the singer is in it. Maisler said via Deadline,
She’s so good at it, you guys. She’s going to blow your mind. I didn’t suggest Lady Gaga. It wasn’t my idea. That was Todd Phillips, before me. But I will tell you, she’s really surprising—and really good. I saw it, and I was really surprised. I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star is Born, but I thought, ‘Oh well, that’s kind of in her wheelhouse’. Something she could do and just be real.
Maisler continued to praise the actress-singer, adding that she is really good in the movie. The casting director didn’t leave Joaquin Phoenix out of her praises by stating that he’s going to blow the audience’s minds too but added that Gaga could keep up with him and be real.
Since the time Lady Gaga was cast as Harley Quinn for the sequel, fans have been waiting for the movie to release, but the makers and the actors have been very tight-lipped about most details. But Lady Gaga, in an interview (via Comic Book Movie), did share a little bit about her portrayal of Harley Quinn, noting:
You know, my version of Harley is mine, and it’s very authentic to this movie and these characters. I’ve never done anything like I’ve done in this movie before, so it’s all going to be completely brand new and really fun.
Margot Robbie previously played the character of Harley Quinn in DCEU’s Suicide Squad, and she believes that Lady Gaga is going to perform her best. Robbie, just like everyone else, is very excited to see Gaga as Quinn on screen.
Is Joker: Folie à Deux Lady Gaga’s road to winning the second Academy Award?
The Poker Face singer has previously been a part of A Star is Born opposite Bradley Cooper and House of Gucci opposite Adam Driver. Her contribution to the success of A Star is Born was not limited to just her exceptional acting but also adding her voice to the soundtrack of the movie, which led to her chart-topping single Shallow.
The 2018 movie was directed by Cooper and went on to receive eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Picture, and more. Lady Gaga didn’t win the Best Actress award that night, but she did win Best Original Song for Shallow. She co-wrote the song with Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, and Anthony Rossomando.
If the actress’ acting is brilliant in Joker: Folie à Deux, as the casting director suggests, then it might be apt to say that she can win her first Academy Award for acting! There is no doubt that the actress-singer gives her 100 percent when involved in a project, and since the first pictures from the movie or the trailer have been dropped, it can be seen that she has pretty much nailed the character.
Todd Phillips was asked about the decision to cast Lady Gaga for the part when he appeared at CinemaCon Las Vegas (via EW), and he said that they cast her because ‘she’s magic’. He added that he was the producer on A Star is Born and watched her work, and when he started to work on Joker: Folie à Deux, he kept going back to her.
Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled for release in October 2024.
