Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix - Joker: Folie À Deux 2024 Venice Film Festival Full Press Conference

[Applause] hello [Applause] Phoenix Todd Phillips and Lady Gaga and um before I give you the I start with a question for for Todd Todd how does it feel 5 years later with a Golden Lion to be back with this film with this character uh I mean it it feels uh is this working it feels push the bottom ah there it is uh it it feels wait there it goes let me start over it feels right it feels correct to be back in Venice um it felt like The Logical launching off point for us for for this second film uh we have a very strong feeling towards Venice and and what happened last time not just obviously winning the festival but just the way the film was treated um but I will say on this one I'm a little more nervous and I think it's a lot easier to come in to something as the Insurgent as opposed to coming in as the incumbent and so there's a lot more expectations on a second film and so yeah there's a there's definitely a sense of more more nervousness than I had with the first one can you can you talk a little bit about uh the transition between the two films and now the music is what bridged uh Joker and this film and the music was so intrinsic to uh wen's character in the first one well yeah it's something that Wen and I talked about all the time on the set of the first movie was this idea that Arthur has has music in him and I think you know if you remember the first film there are moments where he is just dancing for whatever the reason be he's sort of the way of expressing what he's feeling so you know and Hilder score in the first film is really such a almost a character in the first film another character so it's always was really a huge part of it and then waen um well you want to take over and you to talk about a dream that you had no thank you oh please no you I mean so so it felt like a logical launching off point is to continue with that idea of music and with Arthur and what music means to him so then as we started writing the screenplay not to keep going on but he's not talking right now but he will we we when it started taking a shape with actual musical elements we said oh well my God imagine if we get Lady Gaga an actress who obviously brings music with her um it just would it just felt right there's a question here I hope they ask you a direct question right now yes hi I'm Ruben nales from Raper congratulations in the film it's what a great surprise that it works as a musical and as psychological drama so my question for each each of you for Todd talk about the song selection because it it's great it's perfect it's ironic that's the song selection and for each of you Lady Gaga and w can you talk about the unexpect unexpected pleasure and opportunity that you lady G Gaga get to sing with h hin and hen you get to sing sing in duets with Lady Gaga uh I mean the musical choices really came through in the screenplay you know we started with it and it really was very much based around a certain time with the music of course and and and it was all meant to feel like music that Arthur may have listened to with his mom when he was younger music that she played for him and um you know again the time being really specific to to Arthur who feels like a throwback to us when we were writing it in a way and so so that was where it started do you want to take that sure what do you want me to say he's first of all hi everyone nice nice nice to see you um it's nice to be back uh yeah I think part of the part of the joy at least for me was taking these songs that were standards and trying to find a way that it felt like they were uh specific to the characters that it was the only way that the characters could express themselves were through these particular songs sung in this way and that was part of what was um I think a interesting point for us because initially we started off with some references where you know I had Frank Sinatra um and Samy Davis Jr and these um you know Legends and uh I think we started kind of trying to emulate that sound at least I did before we realized like wait a second this is not this is not who Arthur is might be who Joker wants to be um and so that was a I think a point at least for me we felt like something really clicked where we took these standards and decided to do kind of our own understanding of them or interpretation and Gaga was really um Stephanie or Stephanie I can't sorry Stephanie uh um was really early on she was like oh we're going to sing live and uh I was like no we're not or you you you can sing live if you'd like but I'm and ultimately we did yeah and it and it was really the only way I mean that not only did we sing live but um every part of the recording was was live we we didn't sing to completed tracks or to click track we were working with a pist um you know on set so each each take was a different version of of the song and of singing the song um so that felt really exciting I think created an energy that was was necessary at least that I I felt yeah was necessary hi everybody I did what you did yeah hi hi everyone it's so nice to see you today um you know I think the way that we approached music in this film was very special and extremely nuanced uh I I wouldn't necessarily say that this is actually a musical in a lot of ways it's uh very different the way that music is used is to really give the characters a way to express what they need to say because the scene and just the dialogue is not enough so uh like Walkin said we did a lot of this live uh and in a a lot of ways The Pianist that was on set with us was sort of like an actor off off camera u in the scene with us and uh we worked really hard also on the way that we sang and for me it was a lot about uh kind of unlearning technique and uh forgetting how to breathe and allowing uh the song to completely come out of the character and you know like Todd said you know he always felt like Arthur had music inside of him and I I think I just for me I really wanted to help execute Todd's vision for what this could be with music there question there Italy my question is about the makeup that's very important in the movie because it show us the distinction between Arthur and the Joker and also to Lady Gaga if you decide by yourself the makeup or you use was already WR in the script you have already SU ations about it you should take this Todd did my makeup um it was actually a totally collaborative process we all work together and uh everything visually in the film I feel like was made like a painting from the music to the uh the Wardrobe uh Wen you said it unset once like it's all conspiring um and uh so we worked really really as a team anyone wants that on make oh I think she answer yeah okay there's one here oh boy tough one greetings Steven schaer uh the Boston Herald congratulations just uh awesome kind of mesmerizing audacious movie and it made me think the two of you are like a team collaborating on this first one and now this one why do you think the first one resonated the way it did isn't it like what came the biggest hit of your career financially popular popularity wise uh yeah undoubtedly by far um well I like say that um thank you so much but there are several people that are collaborators on this and certainly uh Scott silver who's not here and who's more shy of of doing these things and I am is uh really Todd's uh partner in crime on this and building these uh films together I think it's fair to fair to say um so I feel like he needs uh deserves acknowledgement yeah a little bit just a little bit we'll never mention him again that's all he gets um but I honestly I I I don't know I I'm not sure why um it it resonates with people and I think I think different people are attracted to different elements of the film um that's what I'm always surprised by is when people people do talk about it um every person seems to kind of highlighted it right yeah I mean I think some people saw it as a straightup comic book adaptation and other people saw it as something different something a little more so to speak and um I don't know either why it resonated I mean you know movies tend to hold a mirror up to society I think it was of that moment um it felt very timely so but as far as you know in relation to this film and us working together I I knew you know Wen is not necessarily going to do a sequel to anything ever and I I knew that we spoke about if we really were going to do it cuz we had joked about doing one while we were making the movie all the time but if we were really going to do it it had to um scare him in the same way the first one did it had to feel you know you mentioned audacious it had to feel audacious and it had to feel like we were really swinging for the fences um with something different uh so that was our directive also a little bit it like going in and going how could we make something as unexpected as the first one even though it's a sequel you know and and and for for Stephanie uh what what made you want to belong to that world you know um actually it was the first film The the first film really deeply moved me and I loved it so much uh Todd did a beautiful job making it and wen's performance uh I feel like shared something that was really kind of like set the bar extremely high um and I I think you know sometimes when stories are told about people that are maybe misunderstood by Society the director gives you a chance the actor gives you a chance to really take a hard look at that world in a deeper way and I felt like when I watched the first film that I I got to understand and see something that I may have never seen before uh so that's that's why I did this movie there was has been holding for a while hi good morning mariaa kinoo Spain well congratulations on this dark disturbing movie you said that this H the first movie mirrored somehow the war at that time um it felt this morning that the the world is darker it's chaotic is I mean is going to hell and I'd like um Hakim um if you could tell us what was the the the the central emotion or the central concept that drives Arthur in this movie thank you um uh I don't I never think about things this this way um I like it when you guys write about it and then you just share your opinion um but I think on on this definitely um I mean simply love I think the Quest for for for love and and that kind of safety um that I think he URS for and has Ur for is a big propellent um on on this one is that fair to say Yeah in despair always but yeah sh here I congratulations on the movie I'm Janet nepales from j7 uh haen can you tell us about the dream that you had that inspired this movie and also for Lady Gaga working with hen what was the thing that really made you uh go for it like inspired you to get into the movie um the the dream was is not Inspire the movie the the dream was just um I had this stream that I was I was performing as Joker um doing songs and um and I just called Todd um because I thought there might be something there and there wasn't thank you um uh I would say working with Wen was a total Breeze and I uh I actually really really enjoyed it and uh it was a completely different experience than any one that I'd ever had before with an actor uh he's incredibly loose and free and I think I learned very much that going on set with a preconceived notion of what we were going to do was kind of the wrong idea and I think we all really thrived in the moment and in the chaos of it all this is such an interesting story the way that Todd tells this story I think I think if you're imagining what this movie is like and then you go see it you'll realize that you couldn't have possibly thought of it on your own um and and in order to make that happen you know we had to find it every day and you know what was what was the truth what was the honest moment in each scene um and and how did it tell a story that quite frankly I think we really want all of you to decide for yourselves when you see the film what it means to you um uh instead of deciding it for you I have a question for Todd um how how did you mediate the the realism of the first film I mean some of some of the some of the strength of the FM was those very realistic images and the greatness of the city with the stylization that comes with with a musical form you know you know this is not a musical but has that component yeah but I think um you know visually stylistically it it exists in the same world as the first film for a lot of it and and then when we break out of it for certain things we're breaking out of it with the freedom of Arthur's imagination and where Arthur would take something and again Arthur in the first film to me Beyond had having music in him had a romance to him he had panach he had style even though you didn't really see it so I think what the musical elements in this film enabled us to do visually is to kind of lean into that style and but again to me it's all informed through his eyes you know hello there hi Ben Dalton from screen International congratulations to all on the film this is a question for quim Phoenix uh recently you dropped out of a Todd Haynes film shortly before shooting um can you tell us what happened there and why did you depart that film um I think if I do I would just be sharing my opinion from my perspective um and the other creatives aren't here to say their peace and it just doesn't feel like that would be right I'm not sure how that would be um helpful so I just I don't think I will yeah thank you this one there him right there uh good day my name is 98 magazine Kazakhstan my question goes to Todd Phillips uh this morning I really much enjoyed uh watching the second movie and uh this made me wondering should we expect the third movie about choker anytime in the future and or should we expect another movie about somebody within the universe you've already built thanks a lot did you see the movie meaning uh no I think um I think the the for me the the the and I I won't speak for waim but for me that the the story of Arthur Joker has been told with this film as far as working you know continuing in this space as a as a filmmaker probably not it's not it's not it it you know for me it's it's actually even hard to say not everything I do is dictated on actors what actor could I work with who would be you know who am I dying to work with and could I build something around that person so clearly these films have been built around Wen then we introduced Gaga but so I I I can't really say yes or no but it's not necessarily my my goal is to stay in this space there was a question right there yeah was a terrible answer okay awesome fine hello question from Mr Phillips um Joker Joker has been uh criticized undeservedly I think as promoting neoism or violence or something like that was that an image you want to more or less correct a little bit with this movie I mean no not I mean it wasn't that wasn't a goal of the film at all but uh I do think it was painted with a kind of a an interesting brush the last film and and and and it as you say felt undeserved but I understand what what what people's concerns were uh but no I mean this movie was not in response to that in any Way movies are way too hard to make as a statement you know in response to something uh so no yeah just a question here thank you uh John Bale um I'd like to ask Wen a pH U pH Wen Phoenix a question if I may um in the film once more you have a real uh physical preparation for the role um which uh if anything looks incredibly striking uh I wanted to ask you how you did went about that and if at some stage you'll think I can't physically do this anymore it's too dangerous good question good question um it's uh it's not really that that dangerous when we work with the doctor and um but uh I mean really I'm thank you for the question but I'm I don't I'm not going to um talk through like this specifics of the diet cuz I just think nobody really wants to hear that um but uh but this time it was um uh right um this time uh it was it it felt a bit more complicated just because there was so much uh dance rehearsal that we were doing um which I didn't have last time and um and so it was it it felt a bit more more difficult but um no it it is safe but you're right I'm Now 49 it's I probably shouldn't do this again this is probably it's probably it for me um yeah and and Stephanie also lost a lot of weight I did yeah I did did I remember you we were first I met you and and and then we did some rehearsals and then you went away for like a month and then you came back and you lost a lot of weight and it was really impressive and seemed very very difficult thank you um you know uh we it's um you know not familiar with microphones uh we we uh you know I think we transformed into our characters over a period of time and uh we continue to you know hone in uh every kind of uh detail U but I would say I would say uh preparing the the wall that's in the film was really really special we rehearsed for like a few months um and uh it's interesting it's a it's a waltz that kind of falls apart and um it's a really nice expression of this uh very uh Strange Love between the two of them um yeah it was a it was he was he was he did he did great on we fed him blueberries when he was really hungry I the the the waltz is a it's a great example of what it was like making this movie because we we we rehearsed for uh a couple months and then uh like 10 days before we shot it we just radically altered um the the entire choreography and you know we work with this uh amazing choreographer Michael Arnold and um but I think it's it's like a indicative of what the process was like with everything that we were doing where you know we we really work on on something and and choreograph it and and then throw it out yeah no that was It was kind of the beauty of the whole thing was you know you you can learn a song you can learn a routine for a dance you can you can drill something over and over again until you have it nearly perfect and but that's not always the most honest thing to do on camera so I I feel like you know we put in a lot of the work but the joy of filming I think was that when we got there we just kind of threw it all away and saw what happened happened when the camera was rolling she's she's been waiting for a long time hello my name is Tiana Aro from the Austrian television um so as Todd said before that he was kind of nervous to make a sequel I was nervous since the last five years and I wanted to ask uh you yin to what were the biggest challenges in like um creating this sequel which is not a comment but is a sequel as well don't say me she already said she said you oh she did yeah she said she said D and Todd but no no I meant you don't say me oh right the most difficult thing was dealing with no but it it it it it's um don't say it's true it's true and uh it's not true no I mean it's it's just hard again more so expectations you know you go you even in the studio and you know dealing with a a larger crew and bigger budgets and all that thing you suddenly you just have a different pressure on the movie I really what I really loved about the first movie The Making of it was we flew under the radar as as under the radar as you could for a movie called Joker but pretty much nobody knew what we were doing and we were off making this little film and you know it's so the hard part of this is is you feel the eyeballs on you as you're you know even writing the script people are making things up on the Internet about what it's about or people are expecting it to be this or that so so that's that's that's for me as a filmmaker kind of a difficult thing to navigate but I think um sometimes what's most difficult is just stopping the the noise in your own head um and you just get so caught up in second guessing yourself and doubts and all this these things that have nothing to do with the moment after you hear action and I think that is is there's something that happens where all of that goes out the window right and part of you have to have that that anxiety and that fear because it motivates you and you think about every possibility but at some point we weren't making a sequel to a movie and we weren't considering those things it was just what we were experiencing in that moment um and that's when it that's when it feels like it um it's at its best right that's really I think what what you you do not to at least for me maybe it's different for a director but I don't really have to consider no I mean in in all seriousness you taught me a lot of that on the first movie of just like this is the experience we're do it's it's not so result oriented meaning let's not worry about what the film becomes let's just live in this moment and I think that kind of found its way into both films and it's what Stephanie is alluding to of like we would work on all these things and come and then not really know what we were doing start over and it was very much about wanting it to feel fresh new dangerous whatever word you want to use to to capture that sort of real feeling on set in the moment but I think he had a lot to do with that for me so this is for uh Stephanie Stephanie uh I read some somewhere that uh step by step you want to change the world and to put one pallet after the other can you tell us in which sense and for Jo uh uh joim how many pounds did you lose for the role asking I'm from Mexico um you know the reason that I I think I started making music when I was really little was cuz I just had something to say I was uh trying to figure out how to do that and one of the reasons I love music and I love mov movies so much is the stories that you get to tell and the way that we get to express um something to the world that will hopefully help um help people feel good about life um give them a moment to escape into another world uh to fall into somebody else's story um so to me when I hear you say that I must have sounds like I said that when I was in my 20s that I wanted to change the world um uh I I think that what I really meant to say is that I I believe that movies and music have a tremendous power to change uh to to change the way people feel and uh and you know that's part of why I I love to to create hi um just a number well I don't know I don't I don't remember and I I I well I was feeling like I know was responsible last time for for talking about it quite a bit because it is a it's it's difficult to do and you you can't becomes your obsession right because as you're working through and trying to get to a certain weight and so then you can't help but talk about it and then it just sounds like an actor just talking about like how much weight they lost and so I by the end of that run I was like so sick of myself and angry at myself for making such a thing of it because part of it is like you just do what you're supposed to to do and and there's like that that's it but I I fell into this like trap of talking about it so um this time I was like I'm not going to I'm not going to do that this time um so I won't but it was 47 pound no no I'm J I'm joking I'm jok I don't know I'm really sorry but they came to call me twice we run out of time thank you so much thank you thank you all thanks for being here e