‘Joker 2’: Lawrence Sher Said He “Never Met” The Real Lady Gaga On Set As She Would Only Answer To Her Character’s Name

Lady Gaga has sold millions and millions of records and tickets to shows over the course of her years-long singing career, but when it comes to acting, she seems to be fully committed to the art of performing on screen. That commitment includes the idea of going “method”  on set, never breaking character even when cameras aren’t rolling. According to cinematographer Lawrence Sher, Gaga’s method created plenty of awkward moments on the set of “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

In a recent episode of The Trenches Talk, Lawrence Sher, the cinematographer on both “Joker” and the forthcoming “Joker: Folie à Deux,” spoke about his unique relationship with actress Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, who plays Harley Quinn in the new film. 

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You see, much like we’ve been made aware by interviews with the singer-turned-actress regarding her previous work, Lady Gaga loves to go full method on set. That means, in the case of Sher, he admitted that he never felt like he really met Lady Gaga on set during production. Not only that, she wouldn’t respond to him when he tried to use her real name. The only way he was able to break through to Gaga during filming was to use her character’s name.

“I didn’t know Stefani at all,” Sher said. “Strangely, I felt like I never even met her, even during the makeup/hair tests. Because again, maybe it was my philosophy of not trying to, sort of, 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, like, crack it. I feel like she either hates me or we hate each other. There’s something weird going on here.’ I barely said anything, except I would say like, ‘Stefani, this is where your second team was, whatever it was, minor little things.’”

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He continued, “And then the AD at one point said, ‘Oh you know, Stef would like if you just called her Lee on set.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, 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.”

A lot has already been made by the casting choice of putting Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux.” This is the sequel to the billion-dollar-grossing DC film, “Joker,” from 2019. Adding Gaga to the film adds further credence to the fact that many are reporting that ‘Folie à Deux’ will have musical elements in the film, which has been divisive amongst superhero film fans. So, there is already a ton of fans who are expecting the worst from Gaga. 

That said, we won’t really know anything about the performance Lady Gaga gives until “Joker: Folie à Deux” is released in theaters on October 4, 2024.