Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga reveal reason behind 'poorly' sung vocals

Joker: Folie à Deux just officially marked Joaquin Phoenix’s return as Arthur Fleck (a.k.a Joker) and introduced Lady Gaga as the infamous Harley Quinn.

In addition to the pop star playing the DC comic character, the 38-year-old also released a companion album along with the 2019 movie’s installment.

Titled, Harlequin, the album depicts the musical nature of the film, directed by Todd Phillips and features recordings of Gaga’s vocals that were used in Joker: Folie à Deux.

Speaking about the music in the movie, Phillips told Variety, “The question became, ‘how can we top ourselves?’” referring to the previous motion picture, Joker’s success, adding, “And you can only do that if you do something dangerous.”

“Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue… It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead,” he further added, explaining the music of the film.

Providing her input, Lady Gaga, told the publication, “We asked ourselves what would need to be true for two people to just break into song in the middle of a conversation?”

“Where does the music come from when no one can hear it but the characters? Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers, and they shouldn’t sound like they are,” she stated.

While in the latest cover story for Vogue, Phoenix, echoed Gaga’s sentiment, saying, "I encouraged [Gaga] to sing poorly," he confessed, noting, "I remember asking her to sing without her vibrato… as soon as she moved away from technique she unlocked her character’s voice.”