Before Stefani Germanotta became Lady Gaga, stadium filler; Oscar-winner; Italian-American, she was known as “Girl at Swimming Pool #2”. In the ninth episode of the third season of The Sopranos, Gaga had a small appearance that her fans, upon her ascent to fame, quickly rooted out. Now, as she starts the campaign trail to win an Oscar for her critically-acclaimed performance in House of Gucci, she’s reflected upon her acting debut.
Gaga appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s Awardist podcast to discuss the dedication to her craft on Gucci (let’s not forget that she legit thought she’d killed Maurizio herself by the end of shooting), and briefly dwelled on her brief Sopranos spot. She wasn’t kind to herself: “When I look back on that scene I can see exactly what I did wrong in that scene,” she said. “I didn’t know how to listen in a scene! I was supposed to laugh, and it was sort of like, cue, laugh…. I see it and I go, ‘oh, that’s not a real laugh!’”.
She talked about how specificity was important in the making of Patrizia Reggiani, her Gucci character. Looking back, “I see a very non-specific actor [in her performance on The Sopranos], and now I see myself as someone who is at least really striving to be specific without thinking about it, and that requires a lot of work ahead of time,” she said. “The nuance and being specific as an actor is something that can grow over time if you’re willing to listen and really hear the other actor that you’re working with.”
Critics have made a note of how, in House of Gucci, her performance feels gloriously old-fashioned, like something from the stars of Hollywood’s Golden era. With some nominations already under her belt for her role, she’s almost a shoe-in for Oscar love at this stage. On the podcast, Gaga credits her acting teacher Susan Batson for helping her pin down Patrizia, and Ridley Scott for making the set a “sanctuary” for her.
Perhaps the next step is to return to The Sopranos world. If they ever reboot the show, or do another spin-off movie, our queen deserves to redeem herself, front and centre.
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