Lady Gaga took method acting to new heights for her role as Patrizia Reggiani in “House of Gucci,” tapping into her own trauma to perfect the part for nine months.
She’s been candid about her experience being raped by a music producer when she was 19 years old and channeled the emotions into the character — earning her an award for “Best Actress” from the New York Film Critics Circle.
But her devotion to not breaking character came with struggle, requiring an on-set psychiatric nurse during the end of filming.
“I sort of felt like I had to. I felt that it was safer for me,” the 35-year-old told Variety. “That’s because I was always Patrizia. I always spoke in my accent. And even if I was speaking about things that weren’t related to the movie … I was still living my life. I just lived it as her.”
Gaga portrays the chaotic life of Reggiani, the infamous wife to fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver.
But the darkness of the life of her character — who ordered her husband’s assassination in 1995 — also meant she “brought the darkness” home with her.
“I don’t think that any actor should push themselves to that limit,” she said in the interview. “And I ask myself all the time why I do that. I’ve done some pretty extreme art pieces throughout my career — the things I’ve put my body through, my mind. 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.”
Using her experience with going “too far” with method acting, she urged people to “ask for help” if mental health struggles become too difficult to “reel in on your own.”
Despite giving it her all, which also earned her Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, the movie sparked controversy. Critics dubbed it “abysmal” and “boring,” critiquing Gaga’s Italian accent, while heirs of Aldo Gucci, played by Al Pacino, also expressed their discontent.
The family smeared the film in a statement released shortly after its premiere, calling it “an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
Gaga, though, acknowledged how “painful” it must be for them to relive their tumultuous history.
“It’s why I tried to put something important into the role. And I also believe it to be the truth,” she told Variety. “So for what it’s worth, I care about people. And I would never have been a part of a real story about someone that was just a terrible person.”
She was concerned about her portrayal of Reggiani, fearing the recently released ex-member of the Gucci family would show up on set while they were filming on location.
“I wondered all the time when I was in Italy if she was going to show up,” she said. “I mean, she’s out of jail. There was a safety element.”
Because Gaga was so invested in her character’s dark history, she also discovered Reggiani had a brain tumor, muddling the murder’s motive and humanizing Reggiani.
But the film left out any mention of illness.
She added that Reggiani’s story may be more universal than people think.
“What I found fascinating was that the line was thin between her humanity and any other woman’s humanity, meaning any other woman might have felt like her,” she said. “I didn’t want there to be that big of a difference between her and any other woman because I don’t believe there was that big of a difference.”
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