Just so we're clear: Lady Gaga is not Ally, her character from A Star is Born. Speaking at The Hollywood Reporter's Hollywood Actress Roundtable, the musician explained how she differs from her now beloved character.
“I dyed my hair very early, before we started filming,” Gaga said. “I started to dress like [Ally]. I was writing music for the soundtrack and helping to hone Ally's sound, which was essentially something that was going to arise out of Jackson's sound, because she fell in love with him.”
She added, "I wanted Ally to be nothing like me. This was very important to me because the truth is, I am nothing like Ally. I created Gaga."
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The difference here, however, is that she'd had more freedom to create her Gaga persona, while Ally was a role that she “did not have complete control over” and feels she is nothing like. She also noted that there is also a perceptible difference between the power she feels while performing for an audience and the more quiet strength she had to muster on camera. “There is no way that you're not going to the depths of who you are, into a very scary place,” she said. “I just have to commend each and every one of you for it. Because I still feel like I am recovering from playing this role.”
Gaga made a point of highlighting that she originally wanted to be an actress, which is a major reason why she adopted so many distinct “personas” throughout her music career. “I have created characters for myself,” Gaga said. “Because I did not make it as an actress. So, I made characters that I could be — so that I could be one. They were always in some way related to the woman that I wanted to sing to, and a part of me.” For her, Ally is just another musical persona of sorts.
The full roundtable included six of this year’s most buzzed-about female stars, who gathered to talk about their distinct roles and how Hollywood has changed since the fallout of the #MeToo movement. All of these women, presumably, are at the frontlines of the 2019 Oscar race. Gaga, The Wife's Glenn Close, Boy Erased and Destroyer’s Nicole Kidman, If Beale Street Could Talk's Regina King, and The Favourite's Rachel Weisz discussed in depth their willingness to go even further to support other women in the industry — from being more open about pay to sharing their own cautionary tales. Among the women is a spectrum of experience, with Close having the most extensive career and Lady Gaga making her film debut (well, without counting Machete Kills) with A Star is Born. Read the full conversation here.