Towards mid-December, Lady Gaga actually took her Oscar campaign down several notches. It was a relief, because we can only hear the same woe-is-me story so many times. Still, Gaga turned the 42-day shoot of House of Gucci into a story about how she lived with the character of Patrizia Reggiani for a year and it drove her to nearly have a nervous breakdown. It was a lot. So it was probably a lot healthier for Gaga to go away for a bit, to not put herself through a grueling Oscar campaign, and only do a handful of interviews towards the end. I kind of think her publicist told her to take it down a notch too. At the end of the day, though, I think Gaga kind of talked herself out of an Oscar nomination. She was too over-the-top and Academy voters were like “eh, nope.” Anyway, Gaga is one of several covers for W magazine’s Best Performances issue. The interview was fortunately brief:

W: The early scenes between your character, Patrizia, and her soon-to-be husband, Maurizio Gucci, are quite sexy. They first meet in a disco, and the attraction is clear.

Gaga: Romantic scenes can’t just be two people who look good together—there has to be that nonverbal communication. Patrizia was a disco queen who so wanted to be a socialite. When she was just 12 years old, her mother showed her photos of eligible bachelors. I felt Patrizia would dance like she was underwater, like she was coming up for air. Everything about her had to do with striving. At the disco, she knew she was seen—and, in a way, it was the last time she was free.

W: Did you find the character through her fashion?

Gaga: Yes and no. The most important element in becoming Patrizia was dyeing my own hair brown. I couldn’t be blonde with that Italian accent—I was still myself. It was also important to me that the film not be a red carpet: Fashion was a key part of Patrizia’s survival. She tried so hard, but she was never as shiny as the Guccis.

W: At the end of the shoot, were you sad to leave the character behind?

Gaga: On the last day of filming, I was on the balcony of my apartment in Rome, and I was blasting Dean Martin singing “Mambo Italiano,” and I had a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. I was Patrizia. But I knew I had to say goodbye to her: Large swarms of flies kept following me around, and I truly began to believe that she had sent them. I was ready to let her go.

[From W Magazine]

She’s told the story about needing to be brunette a few times already, and it never makes any sense. Gaga IS brunette. That’s her natural hair color, and she’s making it sound like her soul and natural hair is blonde. And there are plenty of Italian blondes! She makes it sound like everyone in Italy has dark hair. It’s the most random thing. As for the swarms of flies… HOLY YIKES. Of course Gaga believes Patrizia sent them.

Photos courtesy of Instar, cover courtesy of W Magazine.