After seeing Sir Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci, I thought the cartoonish drama would be a serious awards player. Though Scott had delivered two excellent films over the course of one year (just a few months, actually), House of Gucci struck me as the more accessible story, with a brilliant ensemble of performers all playing completely different notes, yet somehow in harmony. The only member getting award recognition out of the film, though, is Lady Gaga for her searing portrayal of scorned wife Patrizia Reggiani… who placed a hit on her ex-husband’s head and delivered a serious blow to the Gucci name.
One of the defining characteristics for Patrizia is her exquisitely tailored outfits, chosen for Lady Gaga by the masterful costumer designer Janty Yates. Ridley Scott and Yates have been collaborating for decades, notching titles like Gladiator, Robin Hood, Kingdom of Heaven, and Prometheus on her resume. But Lady Gaga herself is a fashion icon with strong opinions about what a performer should be wearing. When she sat down with CinemaBlend to discuss her House of Gucci performance, however, Gaga made a distinction between outfits for film, and outfits for a concert, and it makes all the sense in the world. She told us:
I have a very strong point of view when it comes to film and fashion. Which is, I never want the audience to be distracted by what I’m wearing. Now, that’s not to say that… I don’t feel that way when I’m singing. I feel excited to bemuse the audience, when I’m singing, with fashion. But for acting, I’m very much there in service of the story, and the director.
Lady Gaga, the actress, understands the value of separating her character from the massive shadow cast by Lady Gaga, the Pop Star. You would think that this would be difficult to do. And yet, in her two most memorable screen performances in both A Star Is Born and now House of Gucci, I can tell you that Lady Gaga disappears so completely into her parts, I didn’t recognize the global sensation who packs arenas and entertained at the Super Bowl halftime show.
This, in large part, is due to people on her film sets treating her like an actress, and not trying to utilize the aspects that make Gaga, well, Gaga. As the Oscar-nominated actress told CinemaBlend:
What I loved so much about (Janty Yates) is, going into this film, knowing that it was a film about a fashion family, I really appreciated that she did not use any preconceived notions about me as someone who loves fashion as a way to create Patrizia with me. She spoke to me like an actor. When we worked together, Patrizia only wore what she would have worn, We didn’t wear things just because they were beautiful if they were not period, or if they were not something that we’d seen her in before. … Some of the things we did together were exact replicas of things that we had seen her wear. Other things were versions of things that we’d seen her wear, that were designed for cinema.
Playing an actual person presents real challenges for a film, and playing someone as recognizable as Patrizia Reggiani, especially when you are Lady Gaga, creates wild obstacles. I think Lady Gaga overcame them all, and beautifully, but you can decide for yourself now that House of Gucci is playing in theaters.
