Lady Gaga is the latest star to become iconic DC villain Harley Quinn on screen in Joker: Folie à Deux, but is she the best?
Harley Quinn is a cult figure for many comic book fans, so naturally, everyone has their opinion on who was responsible for the character’s classic portrayal. Movies, TV and animations have all seen the villain brought to life, some more memorably than others.
Read more: Who is the best Joker onscreen?
While Joker: Folie à Deux may have divided the critics, many agree that Lady Gaga’s casting is one of the high points of the film – as to whether she will be remembered as the quintessential Harley Quinn, she has some tough competition.
Lady Gaga
Those taking inspiration from Harley Quinn for their Halloween costume this year will doubtless by dressing up as Lady Gaga’s version of the villain.
She joins Joaquin Phoenix in the sequel to Joker, which this time took the risky move of reinventing itself as a musical…with mixed results. However, despite the film’s shortcomings, Gaga put in a star performance, with a frequent criticism being that she deserved more scenes of her own.
It’s a more mature take on the character than the last one we saw at the movies, but whether it ends up forgotten along with the rest of the film remains to be seen.
Margot Robbie
Giving more bubblegum villain than Gaga’s disturbing take on Harley Quinn was Margot Robbie, who featured in three films as the character. She first appeared in 2016’s Suicide Squad, followed by Birds of Prey in 2020 and lastly The Suicide Squad in 2021.
While Suicide Squad was fairly badly received as a whole, as with Lady Gaga’s recent starring role most critics agreed that Robbie was one of the few bright spots of the project. She took centre stage in Birds of Prey, and left the role on a high with the much more successful The Suicide Squad.
While it hasn’t officially been confirmed whether Robbie has hung up her bat for good as Harley Quinn now James Gunn and Peter Safran has taken over the DC Universe. She recently told Variety: “I always wanted Harley to be a character that would get passed on to other actresses to play, the way there are so many iconic male characters. That was always the dream for her.”
In any case Robbie’s Harley Quinn is still the enduring image of the character in popular culture.
Mia Sara
Even keen DC fans might be less familiar with Mia Sara’s tenure as Harley Quinn in the short-lived TV series Birds of Prey, which aired in 2002.
Sara played the role in a Gotham City abandoned by Batman and while the pilot episode drew in an impressive audience, it quickly plummeted. The show was cancelled after just 13 episodes, with Sara’s Harley Quinn successors proving more memorable for most.
Tara Strong
Although you might not recognise Tara Strong’s face, there’s a good chance you will recognise her voice as a prolific voice actor for popular cartoon series. Strong has becomethe quintessential voice of Harley Quinn in recent years as she has voiced the character 33 times across TV, film, video games and more.
As a prolific voice actor she has completed a significant amount of work in other DC voice roles too including playing Batgirl for The New Batman Adventures and Raven in Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!.
Kaley Cuoco
Think Kaley Cuoco and you probably think The Big Bang Theory or The Flight Attendant – less so, Harley Quinn, but she is one of the actors who has played the villain.
In fact, along with Lady Gaga, Cuoco is the current Harley as she is still working as the voice actor for the adult animated series Harley Quinn. The HBO series airs on E4 in the UK and is set to debut its fifth season in November, following Harley’s adventures with best friend Poison Ivy after leaving the Joker.
Jenny Slate
Fans of The Lego Batman Movie might remember Harley Quinn making an appearance in animated brick form, where she was voiced by Jenny Slate (who’s also Gidget in The Secret Life of Pets).
Slate also returned to the role for a Lego short, Batman is Just Not That Into You, but is one of the less well remembered voice actors from a cast that included Will Arnett, Michael Cera and Rosario Dawson.
Jamie Chung
Lady Gaga might have grabbed most of the headlines for playing Harley this year, but 2024 also saw another actor cast as the character – Jamie Chung, who voices her for the Prime Video animated series Batman: Caped Crusader.
Chung, who played Mulan in Once Upon A Time and voiced Go Go Tomago for the Big Hero 6 series, is in a supporting role for Caped Crusader but viewers could see the part expand as the series continues in 2025.
Joker: Folie à Deux is out now in cinemas.
