Per an interview with THE TRENCHES TALK podcast (by way of VARIETY), JOKER: FOLIE à DEUX cinematographer Lawrence Sher said that he never really met Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Germanotta) the entire time shooting the film, and didn’t have a conversation with her until he started calling her “Lee” (for “Harley”).
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.’
Apparently, Lady Gaga — who plays Harley Quinn in the film opposite Joquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck/Joker — went all in with the method acting thing and stayed in character the entire shoot. Sher added…
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,’” Sher continued, “And I was like, 100 percent. The next thing I said was something ‘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.
For the full story or to listen to the podcast, click on any of the links provided. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
