Lady Gaga is opening up about her acting process on House of Gucci, revealing she went to such intense lengths to play Patrizia Reggiani that she even needed a psychiatric nurse.
The 35-year-old singer and actress (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) opened up about her process in a new interview with Variety.
While she spoke about employing such intense ‘method acting’ techniques – like ones Succession star Jeremy Strong was recently criticized for – the Oscar-nominated actress doesn’t think it was worth it, in the long run.
Process: The 35-year-old singer and actress (born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) opened up about her process in a new interview with Variety
Opening up: Lady Gaga is opening up about her acting process on House of Gucci, revealing she went to such intense lengths to play Patrizia Reggiani that she even needed a psychiatric nurse
Not worth it: While she spoke about employing such intense ‘method acting’ techniques – like ones Succession star Jeremy Strong was recently criticized for – the Oscar-nominated actress doesn’t think it was worth it, in the long run
Gaga has said in the past that for the entire production she lived as Reggiani, like she did with her breakthrough role as Ally in 2018’s A Star Is Born, which landed her first Oscar win and nomination.
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‘I was the same way for A Star Is Born. I was always Ally. And for this, I was always Patrizia. I always spoke in my accent,’ Gaga said.
‘And even if I was speaking about things that weren’t related to the movie – I wasn’t pretending that Maurizio was waiting for me downstairs – I was still living my life. I just lived it as her,’ she added.
Production: Gaga has said in the past that for the entire production she lived as Reggiani, like she did with her breakthrough role as Ally in 2018’s A Star Is Born, which landed her first Oscar win and nomination
Living: ‘And even if I was speaking about things that weren’t related to the movie – I wasn’t pretending that Maurizio was waiting for me downstairs – I was still living my life. I just lived it as her,’ she added
She said the ‘darkness’ that inhabited Reggiani – who was found guilty in 1997 for hiring the hitman who killed her ex-husband Maurizio (Adam Driver) – came home with her.
‘I brought the darkness home with me because her life was dark,’ she said, before explaining that she had a psychiatric nurse with her on set.
‘I had a psychiatric nurse with me towards the end of filming. I sort of felt like I had to. I felt that it was safer for me,’ she said.
Darkness: She said the ‘darkness’ that inhabited Reggiani – who was found guilty in 1997 for hiring the hitman who killed her ex-husband Maurizio (Adam Driver) – came home with her
Gaga clarified that she was not trying to ‘glorify’ her method acting ways, in fact, she doesn’t think any actor should push themselves that far.
‘I don’t think that any actor should push themselves to that limit. And I ask myself all the time why I do that,’ Gaga said.
She said she’s done, ‘some pretty extreme art pieces throughout my career,’ adding, ‘it’s like a walnut of sadness in my stomach as I say this to you. I don’t know why I’m like that.’
Limit: ‘I don’t think that any actor should push themselves to that limit. And I ask myself all the time why I do that,’ Gaga said
Gaga said her ‘best answer’ is that she has ‘a sort of romantic relationship with suffering for your art that I developed as a young girl, and it just sometimes goes too far. And when it does go too far, it can be hard to reel it in on your own.’
She added she has asked other actors for advice on how to ‘rein it in,’ but she doesn’t expect her whole career to be like this.
‘I probably will completely change this when I have a child, but I don’t have a child yet. I want to be available and present for my children in a way that I think when you are acting in that way, it could be problematic for a child to be around,’ she said.
Best answer: Gaga said her ‘best answer’ is that she has ‘a sort of romantic relationship with suffering for your art that I developed as a young girl, and it just sometimes goes too far. And when it does go too far, it can be hard to reel it in on your own’
Advice: She added she has asked other actors for advice on how to ‘rein it in,’ but she doesn’t expect her whole career to be like this
