Lady Gaga Went To Extremes To Perfect Her House Of Gucci Accent
While Gucci is often associated with logo-slathered tracksuits, slide sandals, and interlocking double-G belts, the Italian brand is a mainstay in the luxury fashion industry. The fashion house has a complicated history, much of which is detailed in Sara Gay Forden's 2001 book "The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed" (via Goodreads). Soon, director Ridley Scott's highly-anticipated adaptation of Forden's book, "House of Gucci," will be released.
"House of Gucci" stars pop-icon-turned-actress Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani opposite Adam Driver as her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, who was murdered by a hitman she hired in 1995. The film follows the Gucci family's business endeavors, lavish lifestyles, and the infamous whirlwind romance between Reggiani and Gucci. The "House of Gucci" trailer offers a glimpse at dazzling parties at the legendary Studio 54, intense discussions between the family, and the excess and darkness lurking around them before Patrizia's stunning betrayal.
Gaga, who was nominated for an Oscar for her acclaimed performance in "A Star is Born" (via Pitchfork), revealed in a new interview just how devoted she was to the role. While her method acting techniques don't come close to "House of Gucci" co-star Jared Leto's notorious antics, Lady Gaga took extreme measures to nail the part.
'It's not an imitation, it's a becoming,' Gaga told Vogue
For the December 2021 issue of British Vogue, Lady Gaga spoke about how her transformation into Patrizia Reggiani went beyond teasing out her now-brunette hair and donning impeccably tailored couture. After spending three years with the character, she told the outlet, "I will be fully honest and transparent: I lived as her for a year and a half. And I spoke with an accent for nine months of that, too," she added, confirming she used the accent even when she was out of character.
She went on to tell the outlet, "It was nearly impossible for me to speak in the accent as a blonde. I instantly had to dye my hair, and I started to live in a way whereby anything that I looked at, anything that I touched, I started to take notice of where and when I could see my money."
Gaga continued that she never broke character, and this devotion carried over into her day-to-day life. She studied Italian accents, focusing on the dialect of Vignola, Milan, and Florence. However, she admitted to Vogue that she experienced "some psychological difficulty" because her method acting approach had been all-consuming.
Interestingly, Gaga did not want to meet the infamous socialite she had become. She explained to Vogue that she was taking a journalistic approach to the role and didn't want anyone's opinions influencing her portrayal. "Meaning that nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was," she said. "Not even Patrizia Gucci."
"House of Gucci" will be in theaters on November 23 and available for streaming on Paramount+ shortly after.