Stefani “Lady Gaga” Germanotta is no stranger to the art of performance and drama, usually taking the form of meat suits and onstage faux deaths. However, she took it to new heights in preparation for her performance as H.B.I.C. Patrizia Gucci/Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s forthcoming House Of Gucci, diving into that method everyone’s always talking about.
In her pursuit of another Oscar nom, the actor/international pop star spent nine months speaking solely in her carefully crafted Italian accent. Her efforts so far have led to a truly delicious delivery of the line “Our name… sweetie,” but this is apparently just a taste of what’s to come in the mad fashion-forward, crime-ridden feature.
She further said “It is three years since I started working on it, and I will be fully honest and transparent: I lived as her [Reggiani] for a year and a half,” Gaga says in an interview with British Vogue. “And I spoke with an accent for nine months. I never broke. I stayed with her.”
For the entertainer, being in character meant “instantly” dyeing her hair brunette as she felt “it was nearly impossible for me to speak in the accent as a blonde.” Gaga also admitted that her commitment to perfecting the role became difficult for friends and family to be around, admitting that there was some silence and some disconnect for a while.”
Lady Gaga’s intense, or as she describes it “journalistic”, approach to her film role was also witnessed by her co-star Salma Hayek — who plays Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma — who described that watching Gaga in character was “a fascinating thing.” “She was magical. A genius” said Hayek.
In her own words, Gaga said It was the experience of a lifetime making this film because every minute of every day I thought of my ancestors in Italy, and what they had to do so that I could have a better life. I just wanted to make them proud, which is why I made the decision to make the performance about a real woman and not about the idea of a bad woman.”