Lady Gaga says 'Joker: Folie à Deux' has an 'audacity and complexity'

Lady Gaga and director Todd Philips are opening up about what fans can expect in "Joker: Folie à Deux."

In an interview with Variety about the making of Philips' "Joker" sequel, Gaga said, "There's music, there's dance, it's a drama, it's also a courtroom drama, it's a comedy, it's happy, it's sad."

"It's a testament to [Philips] as a director, that he would rather be creative than just tell a traditional story of love," the "Die With A Smile" singer said.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" has been described as a musical that will feature Gaga and Phoenix's characters singing, but now we have more details on how that plays out.

The sequel is set two years after the first movie and finds Phoenix's Arthur Fleck, aka Joker, in a psych ward, facing the death penalty, according to reporting from Variety. After he meets another patient, Gaga's Harleen Quinzel, he stops taking his medication and enters a fantasy world inspired by old-fashioned musicals. Together, Arthur and Harleen sing classic songs like "For Once In My Life," "That's Life" and "Get Happy."

"Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue," Philips said. "It's just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead."

Philips noted that the musical performances take place within Harleen and Arthur's imagination, not in the "real world." Gaga and Phoenix sang all the songs live while filming, accompanied by an off-camera piano player.

Gaga said Philips "took a very big swing with this whole concept."

"We asked ourselves, what would need to be true for two people to just break into song in the middle of a conversation?" Gaga said. "Where does the music come from when no one can hear it but the characters?"

Phillips also said Gaga's portrayal of Harley Quinn is different than how the character had been depicted previously, explaining, "The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that's in the comics, we stripped that away."

Along with Gaga and Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, who appeared in the first "Joker" film, will return in the sequel.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" arrives in theaters Oct. 4.