Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix often rewrote scenes in Joker: Folie à Deux.

The singer and A Star Is Born actress makes her debut as the iconic comic book character Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel alongside Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker in the musical sequel to 2019’s Joker.

In a cover interview with U.S. Vogue, Gaga revealed she and Phoenix used to get together in his trailer and rewrite a scene before shooting it.

“We’d very often meet in Joaquin’s trailer and sometimes we would just tear the script up and start all over,” she shared. “It was a really cool, liberating process.”

Director Todd Phillips, who wrote the script with Scott Silver, praised the House of Gucci star for being unfazed about learning new lines with little notice.

“You think, Okay, this scene works, let’s just go shoot it. And Joaquin’s like, ‘No, no, no, let’s just have a quick meeting about it,’ and it’s three hours later and you’re rewriting it on a napkin,” The Hangover director recalled. “What’s great about Lady Gaga is that she really holds her own both off camera when we’re in the trailer tearing things apart – which she probably spent the night before learning – but also on camera. It was not a small feat.”

Phillips met Gaga as he produced A Star Is Born, which was directed by his Hangover star Bradley Cooper. While Gaga played a singer in the 2018 film, she had to undo her vocal technique to “sing poorly” as Lee in the Joker sequel.

“I encouraged her to sing poorly,” Phoenix told the publication. “I remember asking her to sing without her vibrato. She has a beautiful vibrato – too beautiful. I think she felt naked without it. But as soon as she moved away from technique she unlocked her character’s voice.”

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in cinemas on 4 October.

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