Lady Gaga breaks her silence on disastrous reception to box office bomb Joker: Folie à Deux

By BRIAN MARKS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

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Lady Gaga is coming clean with her reaction to the widespread distaste for her film Joker: Folie à Deux.

The 38-year-old pop superstar–turned–actress spoke about the disastrous reception the film received in her new cover story for Elle.

Gaga — who shared her fiery reaction to the reelection of Donald Trump — starred in the Joker sequel opposite Joaquin Phoenix, but the magic from the first film wasn't anywhere to be found the second time around, at least according to most critics and audience members.

The 2019 original managed to gross more than $1 billion despite polarized reviews, but the sequel only grossed $207.5 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and it earned a disappointing 28 percent rotten rating from the most prestigious critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes.

But the chameleonic performer had a surprisingly zen response to the widespread distaste for her film.

'People just sometimes don’t like some things,' she said evenhandedly. 'It’s that simple.'

Lady Gaga, 38, spoke about the disastrous reception to Joke: Folie à Deux in her new Elle cover story; pictured in the film with Joaquin Phoenix

Lady Gaga, 38, spoke about the disastrous reception to Joke: Folie à Deux in her new Elle cover story; pictured in the film with Joaquin Phoenix

The chameleonic performer had a surprisingly zen response to the widespread distaste for her film. 'People just sometimes don¿t like some things,' she said. 'It¿s that simple'

The chameleonic performer had a surprisingly zen response to the widespread distaste for her film. 'People just sometimes don’t like some things,' she said. 'It’s that simple'

Part of the negative response to Joker: Folie à Deux may have been due to its unusual status as a dark superhero-adjacent drama — and a musical.

Although the box office success of the Oscar nominee Wicked has shown that audiences are still willing to go to movie theaters for musicals, the Joker sequel didn't have legions of fans waiting to hear its songs, which were a hodgepodge of classic standards, some going as far back as to the 1930s.

It didn't help that many viewers only learned the film included musical numbers once they had already bought their tickets, as much of the marketing for Joker: Folie à Deux seemed to intentionally elide that fact.

Gaga previously spoke about the challenge of sining in the film in an interview with Empire Magazine.

'It was unlike anything I've ever done before...' she said.

Part of the difficult centered around playing a non-professional singer, despite being one of the most popular vocalists on the planet. 

'For me, there's plenty of notes, actually, from Lee. I'm a trained singer, right? So even my breathing was different when I sang as Lee,' she explained. 

'When I breathe to sing on stage, I have this very controlled way to make sure that I'm on pitch and it's sustained at the right rhythm and amount of time, but Lee would never know how to do any of that,' Gaga continued. 'So, it's like removing the technicality of the whole thing, removing my perceived art-form from it all and completely being inside of who she is.

In her Elle interview, Gaga added that it was important for her to take risks when she was pursuing new projects. 'I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it,' she said; still from Joker

In her Elle interview, Gaga added that it was important for her to take risks when she was pursuing new projects. 'I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it,' she said; still from Joker

'When that [fear of failure] makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It¿s part of the mayhem,' she added; pictured September 30 in Hollywood

'When that [fear of failure] makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem,' she added; pictured September 30 in Hollywood

Gaga later released  the concept album Harlequin, which was inspired by her character and the music from Joker: Folie à Deux

Gaga later released  the concept album Harlequin, which was inspired by her character and the music from Joker: Folie à Deux

In her Elle interview, Gaga added that it was important for her to take risks when she was pursuing new projects.

'I think to be an artist, you have to be willing for people to sometimes not like it,' she continued. 'And you keep going even if something didn’t connect in the way that you intended.'

The singer–songwriter (born Stefani Germanotta) added that she was more concerned about losing her nerve than about possibly releasing a weak album or a film that wasn't widely praised.

'When that [fear of failure] makes its way into your life, that can be hard to get control of. It’s part of the mayhem,' she added.

Gaga's use of the term 'mayhem' was calculated, as she's set to release her eighth studio album, titled Mayhem, on March 7.

The album was fittingly described as a wild mixture of her different influences and interests, including ''90s alternative, electro-grunge, Prince and Bowie melodies, guitar and attitude, funky bass lines, French electronic dance and analog synths.'

The hitmaker went on to describe the album in terms of kaleidoscopic colors.

'As I’m writing, it assembles in my brain, then through the recording it becomes a full piece of color,' she said. 'Every song is a different shade. A lot of the songs on this album have a maroon, brown color to them. Bad Romance was like that — it was reddish.'

Mayhem follows the release of Harlequin in September of last year.

Gaga has described that LP as a 'vintage pop' companion album to Joker: Folie à Deux, and it primarily features standards inspired by the music of the film, as well as her solo numbers from the sequel, putting it in line with earlier jazz efforts, including her collaborative albums with the late Tony Bennett.

Joaquin PhoenixLady Gaga