Forget method dressing on the red carpet. Lady Gaga just invented a step-and-repeat category all her own at the London premiere of Joker: Folie à Deux: method makeup.
Less than 24 hours after announcing a concept album based off her character, DC Comics villainess Harley Quinn, Lady Gaga arrived at the Sept. 25 Joker premiere channeling her onscreen alter-ego from head to toe. The references started with her plunging red Celine gown and Tiffany & Co. diamonds—allusions to Harley Quinn's signature color—styled by Sandra Amador and Tom Eerebout. Where other celebrities would have let the resemblance end there, Gaga took things a bottle of hair dye and few swipes of turquoise eyeshadow further.
Makeup artist Sarah Tanno assembled a face beat that had Gaga looking like she could perform at an haute couture circus (or just a reprise of her famous MTV VMAs "Paparazzi" performance). In a reference to the rain- and tear-streaked makeup Gaga can be seen wearing throughout Joker's gritty trailer, she contrasted bright, matte turquoise eyeshadow with a cat-eye sharp enough to kill a man. Underneath her right eye, Tanno intentionally smudged her eyeliner across her lower lid—and finished it with a crystal-studded teardrop.
The usually-blonde performer also committed to a hair change for the red carpet. Hairstylist and wig artist Frederic Aspiras gave Gaga a blunt bob with fringe that dusted the top of her newly-bleached eyebrows. Said bob was dyed a deep, burgundy red with dark brunette layers beneath it—like Harley-slash-Gaga had dumped a bottle of wine on her head. (That's very much in line with Harley Quinn's antics, for what it's worth.)
Gaga is the latest celebrity to stay in character for months after the director calls "Cut!" Zendaya had her tennis ball chartreuses and Wimbledon whites to promote Challengers; while Margot Robbie had a dream house full of archival pink dresses to channel Barbie. Even Daisy Edgar-Jones tipped her ten-gallon hat to Twisters with windswept chiffon dresses. But Lady Gaga's method makeup is the biggest commitment I've seen yet to taking a character from the screen to the red carpet—and a major swerve from the hats, LBDs, and classic trousers she'd previously worn to promote Joker. At this point in the tour, no one expected Lady Gaga to make such a big Harley Quinn reference; so maybe the joke was on us.
