It’s a big month for Gaga fans: She stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix as Lee
Quinzel in Joker: Folie à Deux, out on October 4, and just this past weekend
she released Harlequin—the film's accompanying album. The superstar hit the
London premiere of Joker last week and hosted a private listening party of the
album for fans. Between the two events, Vogue caught up with the October cover
star still sporting her custom Celine red carpet ensemble, as she shared her
creative process for the two projects.
Talking about Harley Quinn she says: “It was a really special, exciting experience delivering the movie to the world. Arianne Phillips and I worked on styling this film together; We had this tall order, because there’s this idea that people have of Harley Quinn, and we wanted to create something completely new. The clothes were kind of immature, indicative of a younger mind.” she said
Gaga, who attended a listening party for her new album after this interview, also talks about why she made her companion record, “Harlequin.” “I wanted to keep going,” says Gaga about the new release, which exists as an aural extension of Gaga’s film work from Joker.
The concept cover 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 in the film, as well as a couple of originals,” she says. “We went through this really special experience making Joker together. I wasn’t done with Lee when I was done filming the movie.” The original song “Happy Mistake” has emerged as a favorite. “That song is a very personal look at the human being that played Lee,” she says, “and my relationship with playing broken women throughout my career in different ways.”
As the album racks in plays, and hype for the film continues ahead of its release, Gaga hopes the two projects will resonate with Little Monsters in the way that it has stayed with her. “I have such amazing fans. Seeing them out in London tonight was so fun,” Gaga says. “They already had printouts of the Harlequin cover and they had the makeup. That was so cool to see.”