Lady Gaga channels mental health struggles into powerful Harley Quinn role

In an interview with Vogue, Lady Gaga confessed that her personal experiences with mental health helped her prepare for the role of Harley Quinn. The singer and actress played the aforementioned character in the anticipated film Joker: Folie à Deux, directed by Todd Phillips, where she starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix.

“Harley Quinn is a character people know from the ether of pop culture. I had a different experience creating her, namely my experience with mania and chaos inside,” she confessed in an interview with the magazine. The artist took this opportunity to note the stereotypical perception of women as emotional and unpredictable when they are simply emotionally overloaded.

Lady Gaga knows precisely what she is talking about. Several years ago, she began sharing information about her mental health issues. The first depressive episodes occurred when she was still a teenager. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She increasingly experienced panic attacks accompanied by whole-body pain and stiffness. After years, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a rheumatic disease that often develops in people who experienced trauma at a young age.

The artist has a history of self-harm. She does not hide that she also had suicidal thoughts. All of these difficult experiences help her today to embody new characters.

Besides working on "Joker: Folie à Deux," Lady Gaga has also been working on new music recently. The first single from the new album is set to be released in October. The premiere of "Joker: Folie à Deux" is scheduled for October 4th. Gaga wants her fans to know about the happiness and health she has found after the difficult years.