How Kiss was the inspiration for “Joker: Folie à Deux”

“Joker: Folie à Deux” has arrived in cinemas, the sequel to Todd Phillips’ 2019 film, with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, in the new film joined in the cast by Lady Gaga.

Engaged in the presentations of the feature film, Phoenix talked about the musical figures from which he drew inspiration for his character and explained how Kiss were a role model.

In an interview with USA Today, the actor explained how he and the director were determined not to make a simple sequel to the previous film, choosing to tell a twisted love story at the heart of the musical. “We didn’t want to just continue from the first movie like, ‘This is the Joker, so now we’re going to see him out there robbing banks,'” Phoenix told USA Today: “We didn’t want anything like that.”

“Joker: Folie à Deux” sees Arthur Fleck now abandon all illusions about his Joker character and, as told by Phoenix, this is why Kiss’ inspiration comes into play.

“Have you ever thought about Gene Simmons from Kiss? At twenty years old with his face painted, platform shoes, it’s all rock ‘n’ roll,” said the actor: “But what happens when you’re forty and you think, ‘I don’t want to wear makeup anymore?’ I started laughing about it. Todd and I said maybe this was the start of something.”

Bibliographically, Kiss began abandoning their signature makeup well before their 40s, in 1983, and then re-adopted it starting with the 1996 tour, when Simmons was almost 47 years old. After another twenty-five years of touring, the band held its last concert in December 2023.