Lady Gaga explains how minor role in ‘The Sopranos’ informed her acting career
The singer and actor suggested that her poor acting forced her to improve for future roles
Lady Gaga has spoken about the impact a minor role in an episode of ‘The Sopranos’ had on her acting skills and career.
The pop star, who has ventured into film more in recent years, said in a new interview that she learnt a lot from what she has suggested was poor acting on her part in the popular HBO series.
Reflecting on her role as ‘Girl at Swimming Pool #2’ in the ninth episode of the third season of the crime drama, Gaga told Entertainment Weekly‘s upcoming Awardist podcast: “I didn’t know how to listen in a scene! I was supposed to laugh, and it was sort of like, cue, laugh…I see it and I go, ‘Oh, that’s not a real laugh!’
“The nuance and being specific as an actor is something that can grow over time if you’re willing to listen and really hear the other actor that you’re working with,” she said [quoted via MusicNews].
Watching the scene now, the actor explained that she sees “a very non-specific actor” but now sees herself as “someone who is at least really striving to be specific without thinking about it”.
The artist credited her change in approach to her acting coach, Susan Batson, and also to Ridley Scott who directed her in his latest film, ‘House of Gucci’.
It comes after Gaga revealed recently that she would often vomit on the set of ‘House Of Gucci’ from “anxiety, fatigue, trauma, exhaustion, commitment and love”.
The ‘Rain On Me’ singer stars as Patrizia Reggiani in Scott’s drama, which is out in UK cinemas now, about the murder of Maurizio Gucci. She has spoken about her commitment to the role including using a northern Italian accent for nine months even when off camera.
The 35-year-old used her own memories of traumatic events, including being raped at the aged of 19, to depict Reggiani’s mental state, but it began to blur the lines between her own experiences and those of her character.
Gaga said: “It’s a scene where I knock a lit candle across the room, and I remember I gave Salma [Hayek] a heart attack that day. I was falling apart as [Reggiani] fell apart. When I say that I didn’t break character, some of it was not by choice.”
Director Ridley Scott warned her to stop, telling the actor: “I don’t want you traumatising yourself.”