Before Jeremy Strong’s ultra-Method exposure in the New Yorker, Lady Gaga had been trying to sell people on the idea that she was the most Method actor to ever don a Wig of Truth and make herself nauseous from the unbearable pressure she put on herself. That was seemingly the whole basis of Gaga’s Oscar campaign for House of Gucci: she spoke in an Italian accent for nine months, she was vomiting from the effort of playing this dark character, she was practically traumatized from the film shoot. Incidentally, Ridley Scott said that HoG filmed in 42 days, so I never understood the “nine months of trauma” stories, but whatever. The point is that Gaga suffered. She suffered so much that she had to hire a psychiatric nurse to be with her on set. From her new interview with Variety:
Immersive acting: For the entirety of filming, Gaga says she lived as Patrizia. “I was the same way for ‘A Star Is Born.’ I was always Ally. And for this, 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 wasn’t pretending that Maurizio was waiting for me downstairs – I was still living my life. I just lived it as her. I brought the darkness with me home because her life was dark.”
She sought on-set help from a mental health professional during the final days of shooting. “I had a psychiatric nurse with me towards the end of filming. I sort of felt like I had to. I felt that it was safer for me.”
Actors shouldn’t do what she did: Gaga is quick to point out that she is not sharing this new information to “glorify” her commitment to acting. “I don’t think that any actor should push themselves to that limit. 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. I think that the best answer I could give you is I have a sort of romantic relationship with suffering for your art that I developed as a young girl, and it just sometimes goes too far. And when it does go too far, it can be hard to reel it in on your own.”
She’s seeking advice from fellow actors how to rein it in. “It’s not a secret that I’ll do anything for art. I probably will completely change this when I have a child, but I don’t have a child yet. I want to be available and present for my children in a way that I think when you are acting in that way, it could be problematic for a child to be around.”
To me, this is more problematic than whatever Jeremy Strong is doing. Strong comes across like someone who is taking himself too seriously and is probably a bit pretentious and “actor-y,” but ultimately he gets his job done and he’s not making himself ill to the point of needing medical intervention. Gaga is making herself violently ill and she is driving herself into some incredibly psychologically damaging places. I hope she’s OK and wonder why she feels she has to do this and to talk about it. It does sound like she’s trying to figure out a way to act/produce art where she is able to function without traumatizing herself. Growth!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and Instar.
There is nothing more off putting than over the top award campaigning. The most recent one in history i can think of is Anne Hathaway (didnt people learn?). It just seems so desperate and takes away from an actor simply acting and hoping for the best film and perfomance. Her publicist needs to tell her to Stahp!
Yes. It’s exhausting. Hathaway, Leo, Gaga….they all just need to stop.
I was actually ahocked about Leo,i thought he waa one of those actors who didnt give a damn about blatant campaigning. However i am sure all the Leo was robbed memes ovee the years didnt help.
I love Frances McDormand……she does not need to do this shit!!! given the reviews of House of Gucci, a nomination will be quite generous
Yes, honestly she needs to stop because this isn’t going to get her an Oscar. I’ve worked with numerous voters in her possible categories, I know these voters. People are going to go out of their way to not vote for her just for all this carrying on. She needs to remember the other voters are actors as well they aren’t going to take kindly to someone pretending to be the most invested and tormented (ie greatest true) actor of all time. And the role simply isn’t good enough on top of that, so she’s doing even worse and poisoning the well for herself in future roles that might be actually award winning.
But also poisoning the well in even getting future Oscar-worthy roles at all because no director wants their film overshadowed by these antics. No fellow actors are going to want to sign on to projects where the only talking point in the press about the film will be Gaga’s great sacrifice for mankind.
Someone needs to have a talk with her, this isn’t the music industry. This kind of brazenness doesn’t fly at this level of high level filmmaking. They take themselves very seriously and all this looks like is manipulative, tawdry shenanigans to them. It’s in poor taste and will take years for her to try to rebuild her working reputation from.
She should stop because House of Gucci was a terrible movie and she was laughably bad. Her Italian accent wasn’t nearly as convincing as she thinks it was.
If her movies make money, nobody will care. Look at the jerks who are still working.
So I saw this movie and I thought it was…bad. Although fun bad! Gaga was good in it and very clearly immersed in the role (while imo Jared Leto was also immersed in his role but TERRIBLE. Like acting for a different movie terrible). Appreciate her commitment but take better care of yourself girl!
Leto saw the camp in the movie and played to it. Gaga didn’t get it at all.
Gaga comes off like a stoner making an earth shattering realisation. She’s the last to identify a “deeply superficial” moment of an undeveloped mind, boasting over the discovery of a sophomoric concept. Bless her heart.
I agree with you, Keats. I though it was pretty bad, and not even fun bad, just slow and endless. Leto (I can’t stand him) had moments of camp, and then moments of ok wow you’ve gone way over the edge and this is worse than a junior high play bad. Gaga was the only entertaining part, and when she wasn’t on screen it was very boring, and even saying that, putting herself through all that turmoil for…that result wasn’t worth it.
She reeaaaalllllyyyyyy wants that Oscar 🙄🙄🙄🙄
It seems exhausting to be around her but even more so to be her. On paper, she has everything my regular self thinks would make my life easy, but she makes her life sooo miserable by constantly looking for ways to suffer. And for what? For her art which in the most part is a radio-friendly dance-pop? I don’t get it. It’s good that she can admit that she has a problem, but I hope she seeks therapy.
I though that Adam Driver would be very method but I enjoyed watching their interviews together and seeing him rolling his eyes and laughing at her for all this House of Gucci nonsense while he apparently “just acted”.
This! Aren’t actors supposed to be good at acting which basically means you are able to turn it on and off? An amazing actor can transform into three different characters in a matter of minutes/ hours/days. Believably so. These actors exist. Acting is a skill and a talent. I don’t want to bad mouth all method acting but if I have to brainwash myself into being another person I am technically not acting anymore?
There are so many people in the world who live with legitimate trauma on a daily basis. This just makes her sound clueless and ridiculously privileged.
My thoughts exactly. Especially with this pandemic and covid, people are suffering and mental health issues are rising. And Gaga gets her very own little psych nurse on set. Read the room FFS!
This! Please remove thy head from thy ass Gaga.
+1
Thank you. Yes, so many people suffering for real right now and Gaga creates a lifestyle for herself that “requires” a psychiatric hand-holder. I’m so over all these entitled folks. They seem to think we are in awe of their “process.” No, I think you are silly for wanting a statue so bad that you will do just about any rididculous thing to get it.
Lady Gaga’s mental health struggles has been well documented over the years. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lady-gaga-oprah-mental-health-medication-fibromyalgia
But she’s not talking about this. She’s talking about being so immersed in her process, “in acting”, that she needed her own psych nurse because of the character she was playing.
I was referring to Granger’s comment about legitimate trauma. Lady Gaga had been repeatedly raped @ 19, that’s legitimate trauma & in that article she talks about suffering from PTSD. I’m wondering if this is why she needed a psychiatric nurse, she got too immersed in the role & it triggered her PTSD.
Enough already. She just needs to stop!
Yeah. Thing is Patrizia wasn’t even this crazy and intense. She was way more chill and non plussed even after getting caught. Too wrapped up in money and revenge and status. If you want to portay someone to the t then at least get their state of mind.
But Gaga always had that intensity. And, yes, I think she’s extremely talented in general. I wish she enjoyed her success. Almost feels like a waste to achieve your dreams and not stop to inhale it. Anxiety is a helluva thing combined with pressure of all eyes on you. Therapy is a good idea. Just learn to breathe and take in.
Thank you. These over the top actors bother the shit out of me. They aren’t saving the goddamn world, they aren’t really going through ‘trauma’. They are ACTING.
You can think she sounds clueless or find this cringey to bring this up in context with a movie interview….but this is incredibly unfair to say she doesn’t have legitimate trauma. She’s openly discussed mental health issues for years and has been committed multiple times. Saying she doesn’t have real trauma or made it up is some really ignorant cr*p.
Frankly, that’s a super sh*tty comment and I expect better from people on Celebitchy. Do you think amanda bynes, britney, selena gomez, and gaga’s mentalh health issues and the fact that they’ve been committed is fake just because they are famous?
Like I said, if you want to criticize her for bringing it up in this context-fair enough-but saying it’s not real and get over it is gross.
Yeah I’m bipolar and other affect disorders, what I don’t do is stuff like this that puts my sanity at risk so much I need a psych nurse.
She has real past trauma, the problem is her deliberately making it worse. And this is definitely performative because she IS campaigning for a statue.
This MAN needs to take several seats.If you’re in drag, just say so! Nobody cares about your penis! Professional actors know how not to take it home with you. Experience and knowledge is limited, your imagination is not. Dustin Hoffmann admitted that he too had not slept for 72 hours to achieve emotional verisimilitude. “My dear boy,” replied Laurence Olivier smoothly, “why don’t you just try acting?” Gaga should be accompanied by a shrink all day, every day 247/365 because she is a demonically enhanced SRA victim, not because of the tortures of playing a character.
Was she this over the top when she did A Star is Born? I don’t remember
Gaga is over the top. My kids would say she a Tryhard which is exactly the word i’m looking for. It doesnt feel like the result needed that much suffering, it’s acting. And it’s not Schindler’s List, you know. When she says she doesnt recommend any actor taking her method, the actors would be like “gurl, somethings wrong with you and your method, why would we – actors – want to follow your method? You’re at you’re 2nd movie – dont act like you’re all that!” Very pretentious. Not my vibe.
💯 Tryhard. Meanwhile Frances McDormand has 3 Oscars by just turning in good work over decades, sometimes she gets nominated and sometimes she doesn’t. Frances isn’t that invested in the trophy. Gaga’s greed for validation and awards is maddening, she was explicitly told not to torture herself by Ridley Scott.
”I don’t think that any actor should push themselves to that limit. And I ask myself all the time why I do that”
Maybe because you are an attention seeker? I mean a lot of her stunts are all about attention for her suffering so… not that hard to figure out? I think she’s an ok actress/ musician but she takes herself very seriously…. Shes not exactly Daniel Day Lewis or Bjork level artsy
It may simply be that while she’s acted in things, she’s not trained as an actor, and just doesn’t have the experience or knowhow to tackle these big roles in the way that someone with that training would.
Yes, it’s very possible 🙂 But she doesn’t seem to be asking any of the experienced actors for advice or taking the advice of the (very famous) director. I think sometimes suffering is a choice and it sounds to me like she makes that choice willingly for attention… instead of doing what the other actors do and just working. I have more sympathy for Jeremy Strong but he’s also more talented and doesn’t himself give interviews talking about how damaged he is, it’s seems to be more other people worrying about him that got him noticed
Not worth it. At all. She’s talented and has nothing left to prove. Why does she do this to herself? She’s only 35 years old.
She looks so much older than 35!! All that makeup?
Gaga’s story in The Me You Can’t See is very powerful. She has clearly learned that it’s critically important to take care of her mental health, no matter if others will ridicule her so if she felt the need to hv a psychiatric nurse on hand to help her return from the dark place she went in creating tht dark character for HoG then kudos to her.
I’m sure that when an actor says he/she had a physical trainer wth them on set or a masseuse or a nutritionist no one gets hysterical on hearing that.
Ummmm… if you can’t see the difference between having a private psychiatric nurse and a physical trainer, masseuse or nutritionist, I don’t know what to tell you.
They’re really not all that different – or at least they shouldn’t be seen that way. These are all people who take care of someone’s health and well-being.
She didn’t have to take this job and she could have left any time she felt her mental health was at risk. It was one silly movie, truly nothing to suffer over. This is typical Gaga over dramatic nonsense.
My only problem with the psychiatric nurse is, I wonder if she talked to friends first. She doesn’t have someone in her life that she can go to and say “This role is triggering me.” If she doesn’t then I really feel sorry for her.
I rolled my eyes at her interview, but talking to friends isn’t a substitute for seeking psychiatric help. I have friends I can talk to. I’ve also had periods where I did quite a bit of therapy to deal with things that were happening in my life. Friends can listen sympathetically, but they don’t always have helpful advice for dealing with a situation. They also have their own struggles – you can ask a therapist to spend all kinds of time on your stressful acting role, but your friend who has a new baby or a sick parent or their own career struggles is going to have limited bandwidth for counseling you and might instead need you to help them.
Yikes! Her and Jared Leto should do a movie together.
… I genuinely don’t know if this was a joke or not, but they’re both in House of Gucci lol.
Buahahahaha that shows you how much I know about that movie. Gosh, they must have taken acting method classes from each other.
Oh my… Gaga has always been a try-hard, but this is just too much. And I like her! But holy moly, bring it down a bit.
Is her character in the film *that* dark?
I don’t know if any of this is real, but I kind of love “walnut of sadness.”
I was trying to figure that one out. I’ve never heard it before & was trying to think of its origins.
These actors. They really do live in their own world.
Did she ever study acting in school? Quite a number of actors who do this level of “method acting” do so because they lack formal training. (E.g. Joaquin Phoenix, Shia Leboeuf, Kristen Stewart [Kristen and Shia once interviewed each other about acting and they talked about this.])
No one was more intense and Method than Daniel Day Lewis. And Jeremy Strong who worked with Lewis.
Imagine actually being Lincoln for months and months and believing it. I wonder if he tried to actually pardon somebody. Can you imagine one night he snaps and asks his driver to take him to the White House.
WOW – this is extremely pretentious and extra. She’s campaigning HARD, but I have to respect her push. Gaga gonna Gaga – did we expect anything else?
I really hope this is just her being extra but I’m with Kaiser in that I find this honestly kind of concerning. I was a fan of hers back in the day-not so much anymore, but I still like her music and I do think she’s a good actress-but she’s been acting very odd lately and she’s completely gone AWOL when you think she would be out there pushing for the Oscar more. she also has a history of being committed that she’s talked about and serious mental health problems.
IDK, like hopefully she’s just being very open about her mental health-even if people mock her about it-as her charity is all about that and it is something she’s clearly passionate about & she’s been very open about it in past interviews. But if she really had a nurse…combined with her recent behavior & disappearing act from the public eye when other actresses are out there more in the public (esp. when Gaga normally loves the spotlight)…that doesn’t sound good.
Unpopular opinion. I know a lot of folks were mocking her for this for a day or two on twitter-this interview was a week or so ago…but she’s been acting kind of odd (even for Gaga, she’s being odder than normal) and then totally disappeared when she should be out campaigning for the Oscar. She’s loves the spotlight, so the fact that she’s gone AWOL and isn’t out there hosting screenings and doing things a la Chastain or Alana Haim is…strange.
IDK, she’s openly talked about being committed in the past to mental hospitals and having mental health issues and so people poking fun at her-no matter how ridiculous or over dramatic she comes across-sits uneasily with me. This is giving me Amanda Bynes vibes where half of twitter or people on gossip sites where dragging the h*ll out of her and then like a few weeks later she ended up committed. Especially with Gaga’s past history of being in mental hospitals…
I’m with Kaiser in that I honestly hope she’s okay…like I said, this interview was I think given a few weeks ago and then it’s pretty much been nothing from her when you would expect her to be doing…more….for that Oscar…she gave like one interview right after this where she was really subdued, way toned down, and then zip….which is very suspect for someone who normally loves the spotlight and wants the Oscar.
TLDR:
She has a history of mental health problems and has been in mental health hospitals, she’s talked about it openly a lot, her charity is largely devoted to mental health causes, but this seems…VERY different than how she normally discusses it. I say this as someone who has kind of a love/hate relationship with Gaga (still a fan, because as a bi girl Born this Way changed my life) and is familiar with her interview style.
I feel weird even speculating about it, but it is what it is and I kind of wish people wouldn’t drag celebs who discuss mental health issues-no matter how awkward they might come across-because you never know how serious it is and it could end up with someone being committed again (as Gaga has been in the past).
Like dragging Gaga for her accent or her stunting on the red carpet is one thing, but with her history-and the fact that she’s gone awol from the public-makes me think something serious is going on and I didn’t care for people dragging her on twitter over it a week or so ago.
This is very tiresome and yes, sounds more worrying than what Strong is doing. That being said, it sounds like she’s possibly hurting herself rather than others, which is a step up on some method actors.
I’m also…not 100% sure that I believe her. She’s always been about cultivating a persona, and right now that persona is Serious Actress. She might be playing things up a tad to be dramatic. Or maybe she just needs to spend some more time taking acting classes.
Creatives can be so tiresome with this type of emersion for their art business, but she’s being extra. I don’t hate on her for it but I kind of wish she would tone it down a bit.
I feel bad for her, but as someone who has had to work with people like this, I have to say she sounds like a total nightmare. Pretentious, dramatic, self absorbed, and married to darkness.
For most people, it’s a job, you show up prepared hit your marks deliver your lines give to the other actors are thoughtful of the crew – it’s a job. It’s work. When people act like this, like it’s damaging their mental health, and when it does damage it, sadly they are not the only people who suffer.
It means longer days, endless days, days where everyone else is prepared but this person who has to get into their method first. I feel for everyone on that set and I hope she gets the help she needs. Love her persona and music career, she’s done a lot of good! But maybe she’s not also an actor and that’s okay.
Wow, I’m always taken back by how dismissive some women on this site are of other women’s struggles. There’s no benefit of the doubt here, little empathy, it’s always a get over yourself.
I read a book last week called “The last thing he said to me” and for some reason the emotions in the book seeped into me, it took me two whole days before I could shake it off, and no this is not something that normally happens to me when I read a book. So I can imagine how difficult it was for Lady Gaga who lived the Gucci character for an extended period of time to shake off the emotions brought on by the script.
I wonder if this might be less about Oscar desires and more about Gaga very much wanting to be taken seriously as a serious actress, and not just a “pop star who does some acting too”. And I say this as a huge fan of her music (I’ve never seen either of her movies).
I share this thought too and wish Gaga a healthy future, this constant need of validation even though she is extremely talented is…sad. I don’t think it has anything to do with her ego but more about how she perceives her self.
I used to admire method acting, but now I think it’s a lot of shite. Just ACT. If you’re good enough at it, you can become that character when necessary. You don’t have to live and breathe the role off-camera.
Reading here that she has a history of mental health struggles, and knowing that she is an intense and dedicated performer, it sounds like doing this film just created a “perfect storm” for her and took her to some dark places. I’m not going to make light of it. Yes, it comes across a little clueless because so many people are suffering from trauma not of their own choice/doing right now, but still.
But I don’t think she’ll get an Oscar. As for Leo, I didn’t know he campaigned for one. To be fair, he’s a great actor and I think he deserved one, if not for the role he won for than for one of his other great performances. I still can’t believe Kate Winslet was nominated for Titanic and he wasn’t. I thought he was better than she was, actually.
She is said to have Fibromyalgia so I can’t imagine doing half the things she does with that. I admire her work ethic, however she is kinda over for me. I loved her as a dance pop queen, but this new Gaga’s not my cup of tea.
She seems desperate like there’s never enough attention on her. She always needs more.
Her “suffering” is not impressive the way she hopes it is. Gaga seems to have victimized herself here, so if she was/is genuinely struggling, she will have to give herself a break, just work on therapy or reconsider her methods. Ask loved ones for support and validation rather than seek pity in the press. She’s making herself sound like less of an asset as a hired performer and more of a liability.
There are countless other artists out there to appreciate who explore and share their talents without trying to martyr themselves. I’m a passionate, lifelong artist (with mental health obstacles) too, but I don’t self-destruct from a need for constant validation because I realize that possessing a creative mind unlocks many options in this life. Work hard on something if it’s satisfying, but if it’s incredibly painful or soul-sucking — do something else!!!
Her over the top campaigning is so annoying (100 people in the room speech, worrying the real Patrizia might do something to her while she was in Italy). I saw House of Gucci and it’s so bad. The writing and editing are a mess. The only nomination it deserves is for costume. Jared Leto was awful and Adam
Driver was so bland. Gaga is only getting nominations because of who she is and not the quality of her performance. There was nothing award-worthy about her work in the film. I’ve seen the other films with BA contenders and Gaga’s name doesn’t deserve to be mentioned alongside Penelope Cruz, Alana Haim, Kristen Stewart etc.
While The Last Duel had its weaknesses, I did like it. But Jodie Comer was absolutely perfection in it as an actor. That last third section, all from her character’s narrative, was brilliant. Jodie knows exactly what is needed and when as an actress. But she was perfection throughout in every scene she was in. Now, that’s an actress. She deserves a Best Actress nomination. And she’s not blathering on like Dame Long-Suffering Gaga in interviews. I find Jodie’s interviews interesting and insightful, like The Hollywood Reporter interview.
Gag me. Blech. She’s so irritatingly in your face as an “artiste.”
“I’m an artiste. Do you hear me? An artiste. I suffer for my art.” Ugh. I can take this for one interview, but not every award season. I’ve long been over her. Sometimes some actors or musicians or singers you enjoy so much you can tolerate their self-importance and need to bash you over the head with their “I’m an artist” interviews. For me, Gaga isn’t one of them. I just have no interest in what she does anymore.
This woman is as bad as Adele. Seriously ladies, get over yourselves. Not ever cut or scrape needs an Oprah interview.