My character talks about how ugly she feels and that was real... I’m so insecure
I am proud of the work Bradley did. I feel the experience changed my life
Actors often say they are hardwired to say “Yes” because their job is so precarious. Lady Gaga, takes the opposite approach. Working with the megastar sounds a bit like working with a toddler – she prides herself on saying “No”.
“Before my first single ever came out it was suggested I get a nose job but I said no, I love my Italian nose,” she says.
“If people wanted me to look like a sexpot I would look like the opposite.
“If they said, ‘Try dancing and looking this way’ I would always flip it on its head and do it my way.”
But it seems there is one person Gaga will say “Yes” to, and it’s Bradley Cooper.
The Hollywood star, 43, has cast Gaga in his directorial debut, a remake of A Star Is Born, in which he also stars.
In the moving tale aspiring singer Ally, Gaga’s character, is discovered by Jackson Maine, played by Bradley, a rock star struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
It has so overwhelmed the singer, 32, that she is putty in Bradley’s hands.
“I went to depths in my heart and in my mind that I have never done before, because I had someone so wonderful by my side that I could give that vulnerability,” she says.
“I could cry just sitting here,” she adds – and begins to.
“I am very proud of the work that Bradley did. I thought I would never have the feeling again like I did the first time I put out music and had a hit record, but before this movie even is coming out, I feel like the experience has changed my life.” She describes the instant spark she and Bradley had when he visited her £20million Malibu estate to convince her to take the part.
The role, played previously by Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand, had at one time seemed to be going to Beyonce.
Before Bradley took the helm, Clint Eastwood was down to direct and wanted the Crazy In Love singer.
But Bradley was insistent on getting his girl. “We had an instant connection,” she recalls. “Before I knew it, I was feeding him leftover pasta – he’s Italian, we are both from the East Coast – so we had an instant synergy.
“He asked if I would sing with him, a song called Midnight Special. So I printed out the sheet music and I played
piano. And as I began to play he started to sing and I stopped and said, ‘Oh my gosh, Bradley, you have this incredible voice’. “I was beyond inspired. He believed in me and I believed in him and that’s why we made this movie.” She even trusted him to weave some of her own story into the film. “I spoke a lot to Bradley about my life and they integrated part of my life into the movie but in a very special way. I am forever grateful to him for that,” she says. Now a born-again Yes girl, Gaga is even open to stripping off the layers of make-up she usually has for her gigs – a sign of her underlying insecurity. She says: “It put me in the right place I needed to be. “When my character talks about how ugly she feels – that was real. I’m so insecure.” The singer has always been candid about her struggles. She has previously spoken of her addiction to drugs to help cope with anxiety, and her battle against anorexia and bulimia.
But Bradley seems to have given her confidence, and that looks set to pay off, with the singer now being tipped to win an Oscar for her performance.
She has previously won a Golden Globe for her turn in an episode of American Horror Story. Add to that six Grammy Awards and then some.
Yet you sense Gaga – Steffi to her friends – still craves praise and is still the fragile girl who paid her dues singing in bars across America.
“Without ambition I would not be where I am today, because you get rejected over and over and over again,” she says. “I played in 1,000 clubs if not more. I used to do three shows a night.”
It paid off spectacularly. Her debut album The Fame was released in 2008 and an icon was born.
But she reveals: “There were times early on where I wish there had been someone to help nourish me psychologically, to handle the change.
“When you become famous everything changes, you’re no longer a free being.”
So Gaga now aims to help others who struggle like she did through her Born This Way Foundation, which promotes kindness and compassion.
She also admits starting a family is on her list of ambitions.
After her split from fiance Taylor Kinney in 2016 she is now engaged to movie agent Christian Carino, who is 17 years her senior. “I have dreams of being a mother; I have dreams of having a family,” she says.
Nevertheless a residency at Caesars Palace in Vegas is on the cards, too, though it will be a challenge for the star, who previously cancelled tours because of fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that causes muscle fatigue.
This time she has turned to Elton John for her inspiration. She is godmother to his two sons and the pair are close. “He’s just magic,” she says.
Gaga says she wants the crowds to feel “the heart and soul of what I believe in – love, acceptance and the endless journey of trying to understand the mystery of who we are”.
It sounds like Bradley, her unlikely muse, might have already helped her on her way with that one.
I want the crowds to feel the soul of what I believe – love and acceptance