Lady Gaga is no stranger to the spotlight, but as her latest film Joker: Folie à Deux struggles at the box office, the pop icon and actress is taking a moment to reflect on the turbulent highs and lows of her storied career. The 38-year-old star recently opened up to People about her journey, both in music and film, sharing a rare candidness about the struggles that have accompanied her successes.
“I’ve been in the music industry since I was a teenager. And I’ve been working in the film industry for the last 10 years or so,” the Oscar winner said, looking back on her diverse career. “I think that I just went through a lot.”
Despite the glossy public image, Gaga—whose real name is Stefani Germanotta—admitted that behind the scenes, it hasn’t always been easy. “I feel really grateful for the career that I’ve had,” she said, acknowledging both the triumphs and the hardships. “I feel so grateful for my fans. But I think I had a lot of trouble with it at one point. I just feel a lot better now, and it’s nice to be able to say that.”
Her latest film, Joker: Folie à Deux, has not fared well with critics or audiences. After much hype surrounding her role as Harley Quinn, alongside Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, the psychological musical thriller has bombed at the box office, earning a shockingly low $20 million on its opening weekend—a far cry from the success of the original Joker. Worse still, it garnered the lowest CinemaScore ever for a comic book film, receiving a dismal D rating. This puts Joker: Folie à Deux below other infamous comic book flops, like Madame Web, which at least scraped a C+.
Critics have described the film as “bleak” and “disappointing,” a far cry from the electrifying response to Gaga’s performance in A Star is Born, which earned her critical acclaim and an Oscar for Best Original Song. The steep drop in audience enthusiasm seems to have rattled even the usually confident Gaga, who admitted that her portrayal of Harley Quinn allowed her to express hidden parts of herself she’d rather keep under wraps. “When I first saw the film I was like, ‘Oh, that’s in there! That part of me that I want no one to know about,'” she told Good Morning America.
Despite the film’s lackluster performance, Gaga remains proud of her creative decisions—particularly her choice to sing live on set, a move that initially terrified her co-star Joaquin Phoenix. “You were really cool and kind of made me feel comfortable about that,” Phoenix admitted during their GMA interview. Gaga, unfazed by the pressure, added, “I can assure you that Joaquin using his natural voice was just so much more compelling than any lip-syncing would ever be.”
As Gaga takes stock of this latest chapter, her personal life is looking up. In a more joyful turn of events, she and her boyfriend, Michael Polansky, reportedly got engaged while attending the 2024 Paris Olympics, adding a touch of romance to a rocky professional moment.
While Joker: Folie à Deux may not have soared as expected, Lady Gaga remains undeterred. “I’m in a new place now,” she said, looking forward with optimism. And whether on screen or on stage, her fans can be sure that Gaga will continue to bring her unique blend of talent and grit to whatever comes next.