MUMBAI: Actress and singer Lady Gaga has heaped praise on her award-winning co-star Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the title role in “Joker: Folie à Deux” and talked about what was so special about his performance for her the first time.

Gaga said: “Watching Joaquin's performance for the first time, it was so clear to me how incredibly brave it was, and private and also extremely just… original. Especially for ‘Joker’. And he was able to put heart into something that I think not everyone could have done.”

She said that the film’s director Todd Phillips and Phoenix “have this incredible partnership” where “they are able to create things that are both extremely meaningful and entertaining and singular at the same time.”

“Everything is bold and daring, but still has so much heart.”

Asked what made the character Arthur Fleck become so beloved, Gaga revealed: “I think that people fell in love with Arthur because as he moved through society, he was getting beaten up over and over again, both physically and metaphorically. He was different. He had a hard time.”

She said that it seemed like no matter what he did, he could not catch a break.

“And I think people all over the world resonated with that feeling within themselves. And I think people saw a little bit of themselves in Arthur. And that was sort of the magic trick of that first movie, that everyone felt connected to somebody that was seemingly so different.”

The film will be released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be only in cinemas in India on October 2 and in IMAX screens on October 4, in English version Only.