Known for her electric live performances, jaw-dropping fashion and pop culture-defining moments, Lady Gaga certainly needs no introduction.
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The musician’s meteoric rise to fame throughout the last two decades has secured numerous – and record-breaking – awards for her chart-topping hit songs and boundary-pushing performances. In 2019, she became the first woman in history to win a BAFTA, Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe in the same year for her work on the A Star Is Born movie soundtrack.
But it’s her transformation from ‘Mother Monster’ to Hollywood film star that is getting the most attention of late. While the singer and songwriter has always been interested in acting, with blink-and-you’ll-miss-her parts in The Sopranos and Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills, it was her transformative role opposite Bradley Cooper in his 2018 remake of A Star Is Born that really showed her acting chops.
Gaga’s portrayal of Ally, a struggling musician who rises to fame while wrestling with love and loss, demonstrates a deep emotional range and personal connection to the material. Her raw performance and chemistry with Cooper are nothing short of electrifying and it resonated with audiences and critics alike upon release. It’s a part that speaks to her own experiences in the music industry, and Gaga’s commitment to the character – like all her creative pursuits – is undeniable, as she insisted on singing live for each take.
The performance also earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and she took home the Best Original Song Oscar for ‘Shallow’, the film’s iconic anthem.
Her next role, as criminal socialite Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s family drama House of Gucci, also gathered critical acclaim. Gaga reportedly stayed in character – Italian accent and all – for the nine-month duration of the shoot, employing a method acting technique learned during her training with the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
But it’s her latest performance, as Lee Quinzel (aka Harley Quinn) in Joker: Folie Á Deux, that once again gives us the best of both Gagas. The Todd Phillips sequel is a twisted film with jukebox musical sequences that follows the trial of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) for his crimes as Joker. While institutionalised at Arkham Asylum, Arthur finds love and music with fellow inmate Lee, who manipulates and serenades him in equal measure.
“I’m careful not to use the word musical when I describe this film, because I feel like that limits the way that anyone might think about it before they watch it,” Gaga says. “The sound, the score, the feeling… just completely transports you into the minds of the characters.”
Lady Gaga makes for a magnetic unhinged romantic lead and shines in both the big show numbers – which were all sung live – and restrained moments alike, putting a unique spin on Joker’s often used and abused partner in love and crime.
“Lee is kind of unreasonable in her pursuit of Joker and Arthur,” Gaga says of this version of Harley Quinn. “I think it’s through that love that she discovers who she’s going to be for the rest of her life.”
What Gaga does next in the world of film remains to be seen, but in the meantime Joker: Folie Á Deux is now available to watch at home.