Before Lady Gaga began singing, she had studied to be an actor. She even made an uncredited appearance in an early episode of The Sopranos. At this point, Gaga has a much longer list of higher-profile acting roles in A Star Is Born, American Horror Story, and her recent film House Of Gucci. Now, the singer shares why exactly she loves acting — and it has to do with some trauma she endured while growing up.
Gaga sat down for an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal for Variety‘s Actor On Actor series where the two talked about their recent respective roles in House Of Gucci and The Guilty. During their conversation, Gaga shared the reason behind longing to be an actor, saying it was partially because acting was an “escape” from being “mercilessly bullied” as a child:
“Since I was a little girl, I was so mercilessly bullied, and I had a really strict upbringing. So acting for me was a way to totally escape who I was. And I think I’ve done it my whole career with taking on the artistic persona of whatever music I’m writing and living inside my art. And for films, it’s different, but it’s not.”
The singer went on to note the unconventional ways in which she prepared for House Of Gucci role as Patrizia Reggiani, which included watching videos of animals hunting their prey. “I watched foxes hunt and they’re really funny because they hunt mice in the snow and they leap up and they burrow,” she said. “I actually did exercises in my hotel room where I would be the animal.”
Read Gaga and Gyllenhaal’s full conversation here.