Lady Gaga and director Todd Phillips discuss shooting scene along iconic Joker stairs for the sequel

The filming of the long-awaited sequel to Joker, titled Joker: Folie à Deux, which translates from French to English as ‘Madness For Two’, is now in its fourth month.

On Saturday, director and co-writer Todd Phillips seemed to be spending much of his attention casting newcomer Lady Gaga for a scene on the iconic New York City stairs that was in the original.

The pair appeared to be in deep conversation about what the scene in question entailed, as they made their way down those steps with crew members following close behind.

At one point, Gaga (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta), 37, flashed a big beaming smile while wearing a furry black coat over a black polka dot dress, matching shoes and socks, and her blonde hair styled long and slightly messy. .

Then they would stop briefly at one of the open landings along the stairway so that Phillips could point something at the star.

Phillips and Gaga continued down the stairs as they shared their thoughts on what was needed for the day’s work.

Once the conversation was over, the director headed towards the large camera equipment set up at the bottom of the stairs, while the singer-turned-actress turned around and walked up several floors to the scene marker.

Once Gaga had stepped into the spotlight for her moment, she turned around and gave a thumbs up to the admiring photographers, as well as the film crew below.

Eventually, Phillips yelled, “Action,” and began slowly walking down the stairs toward the scene that didn’t appear to include any of his co-stars or extras.

For the sequel, Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, an impoverished, mentally ill party clown and overlooked comedian whose history of abuse turns him into a nihilistic criminal with clown motives.

Lady Gaga plays Dr. Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who falls in love with Arthur.

Zazie Beetz also returns as Sophie Dumond, a cynical single mother whom Arthur fantasized as his love interest, but they actually met once.

The Folie à Deux cast also includes Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey, among others.

Set in 1981, the first film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring comedian whose descent into mental illness and nihilism inspires a violent countercultural revolution against the prosperous in a decaying Gotham City.

The original film, Joker, made its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival in August 2019, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation from the crowd, and went on to win the Golden Lion Award, which is the highest prize awarded. to a film at the festival in Italy.

Joker became a hit with critics and fans alike, grossing a staggering $1.074 billion at the worldwide box office.

Originally planned to be a standalone film, Joker’s massive success sparked talk of a sequel, which entered development in early 2021.

As a result of the commercial success of the first film, Phoenix’s salary increased from $4.5 million to $20 million for the sequel.

Phillips had previously stated that he would be interested in making a sequel, based on the film’s performance and interest from Phoenix.

In the end, all parties involved were in favor of continuing the story, only this back and forth is described as a musical psychological thriller.

Principal photography for Joker 2 began on December 10, 2022, which Phillips marked by sharing a first-look photo on his Instagram page.

The image showed Phoenix as Fleck, leaning back while shaving his face, with the caption: “Day 1. Our boy.” #jester.’

He would go on to share other images of Phoenix and Lady Gaga on social media, which included a Valentine’s Day post of the two stars looking intensely into each other’s eyes with the caption: “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 4, 2024.