‘They didn’t want it to be me’
Lady Gaga refused to give up on her musical dreams
Stefani Germanotta looks at the character she plays in her upcoming film A Star Is Born and sees a glimmer of the person she might have been had she not become the person she’s known as all over the world: Lady Gaga.
In the movie, which premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival, Lady Gaga plays Ally, a struggling musician whose creative ambitions haven’t got her much further than a drag bar. She’s working for a catering company, and performing late-night sets, when one day into her path stumbles an established musician, played by Bradley Cooper.
Suddenly, Ally’s life is changed; a spark is lit, both romantically and creatively. But in real life, Lady Gaga, 32, heard people saying no, and just kept going.
“That’s the biggest difference between me and Ally,” the sixtime Grammy winner says while discussing the film ahead of its Canadian première. “Ally has completely given up and she does not believe in herself. She does not believe she’s beautiful and she does not believe she has what it takes. When I was 19 years old, I told my parents I was dropping out of school and I was dragging my piano around New York City banging on doors so that I could perform.
“I was even lying, pretending to be my own manager so I could get the 10 p.m. slot when there would be the most people at the club as possible. But that’s not Ally.”
Her struggling-singer character lifts off when Cooper’s alcoholic Jackson Maine takes an interest in her and gives her the confidence to become a star.
“Ally also, I believe, for me, she suffered from depression at the beginning of the film, not believing in herself and I think that it’s important that we guide artists and take care of them on a psychological level as they begin to rise because everything changes.
It’s a tragic story that’s been told on the big screen three other times — in 1937, 1954 and 1976 — but it’s one that never gets old, says Cooper, who also co-wrote the screenplay and directs.
“I knew I wanted to tell a love story,” he explains in a separate interview, “but I saw Annie Lennox singing I Put a Spell on You, and I was with Clint (Eastwood) and I saw the veins in her neck and I thought, ‘There’s nothing purer than communicating emotions through voice.’ And A Star Is Born was over with Warner Bros. and I had my own take on it and it just went from there.”
For a time, other actresses were rumoured to be involved with the film, including Beyoncé, but Cooper was drawn to Stefani, as he refers to her, because of her tenacity and never-say-die attitude.
“When I was young girl in New York, I had a dream of being an actress one day and I didn’t make it as an actress, so I decided to go for it as a musician. To know that this film moves people moves my heart as well.”
But even as thousands of her Little Monsters get ready to see her conquer the world of film, playing the role of Ally lets Lady Gaga see what might have happened had she taken the path of least resistance.
“I had a record executive suggest that I get a nose job before my first single came out, and before we shot the video, and I said no,” she recalled. “They wanted to give my songs to other girls or girl groups. They didn’t want it to be me. I just held onto my music for dear life.”