The 'Born This Way' hitmaker stayed in character as Patrizia Reggiani for a year and a half in order to make her portrayal more convincing for Ridley Scott's movie.
- Nov 3, 2021
AceShowbiz - Lady GaGa maintained an Italian accent for nine months while filming "House of Gucci" to help her stay in character.
The pop star-turned-actress was so committed to her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, the Italian socialite who wed the former head of the fashion house, Maurizio Gucci, in Ridley Scott's film, she continued acting when cameras stopped rolling.
"I lived as her (Reggiani) for a year and a half. And I spoke with an accent for nine months of that...I never broke. I stayed with her," she tells British Vogue in a new interview, adding that she pored over newspaper clippings of her alter ego's trial, for allegedly masterminding Gucci's 1995 shooting death, and listened to recordings of her voice.
But she worked so hard at being Reggiani that Gaga started losing her sense of reality.
"I had some psychological difficulty at one point towards the end of filming," the Oscar winner admits. "I was either in my hotel room, living and speaking as Reggiani, or I was on set, living and speaking as her. I remember I went out into Italy one day with a hat on to take a walk. I hadn't taken a walk in about two months and I panicked... I thought I was on a movie set."
She also notes taking on the part 24 hours a day caused problems with friends and family, revealing there was "some silence and some disconnect for a while."
The "Born This Way" hitmaker worries, too, that she pushes herself too hard.
"I ask myself, 'Is this healthy, the way that you do this?... I just don't know any other way," she reveals.
It seems her famous co-stars were in awe of Gaga's dedication. Salma Hayek tells the magazine she's observed Gaga's "level of passion" only a "very few times" during her own career, adding, "She really committed..."
But the real Patrizia Reggiani, who served 18 years in prison after being found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband, is less thrilled with the pop star's casting.
"I am quite annoyed by the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without even having the foresight and sensitivity to come and meet me," she stated previously.
