October 21, 2022
'Industry' Star Harry Lawtey Joins 'Joker' Sequel
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
"Industry" star Harry Lawtey has signed on to "Joker: Folie a Deux," in which Joaquin Phoenix will reprise the iconic role of The Joker and Lady Gaga will play Harley Quinn.
Lawtey, a British actor, has commanded attention in America in the role of Robert Spearing over the course of two seasons of the HBO drama. The aptly-named Spearing, as a previous EDGE article said, "never met a hookup – gay or straight – he didn't turn down."
The "Joker" sequel is only one of several upcoming projects Lawtey is involved in, according to Deadline. In Britain, he's set to star in the series "You & Me," produced by "Queer as Folk" and "It's a Sin" creator Russell T. Davies. In America, he will share the screen with fellow Brit Christian Bale in the Netflix drama "The Pale Blue Eye," set to arrive in theaters Dec. 23 before moving to the streamer in January.
A term in French for "a madness shared by two," "Folie a Deux" will see Phoenix's character, Arthur Fleck, fall in love with a nurse at Arkham Asylum, reports said. That nurse, Harley Quinn, will be Gaga's role, lending credence to reports that the sequel will be a musical – or, at least, have "musical elements," as Deadline reported.
Directed by Todd Phillips, the 2019 film "Joker" brought a grittier and more realistic feel to the franchise of films based on DC comic book characters. Deadline recalled that "Joker" was "Set in '80s Gotham," and portrayed "the mentally troubled stand-up comedian Fleck" as he "embarked on a downward spiral that led to the creation of an iconic villain."
IndieWire noted that the film "made history as the first R-rated movie ever to gross over $1 billion worldwide," and recalled that "Phoenix went on to take home an Academy Award for Best Actor, along with Hildur Guðnadóttir earning an Oscar for Best Original Score."
Phillips returns as director and screenwriter for the sequel, along with co-writer Scott Silver. Zazie Beetz, another "Joker" veteran, reprises her role from the 2019 origin story. Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleeson have also been cast.
"Joker: Folie a Deux" is expected in theaters two years from now, in October of 2024.
