L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 4 SILVIA GIUDICI NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS " I get chills every time I am in Italy." Lady Gaga recalls the months she spent in Italy on the set of the movie House of Gucci as spending time in her second home. The pop singer, who plays Patrizia Reggiani, wife of Maurizio Gucci, on the big screen, takes deep pride in her Italian roots and her heritage. While shoo- ting, Lady Gaga spent a lot of time in the Belpaese, between Valle d' Aosta, Milan, Lake Como (in the historic palace Villa Balbiano), and Rome. B o r n J o a n n e S t e f a n i Germanotta, Lady Gaga was raised in Manhattan, but her talent and passion for being a performer might spring from her Italian roots (her grandparents came from a small town called Naso, an hour's drive from Messina). House of Gucci is a bio- graphical crime film direc- ted by Ridley Scott, based o n t h e 2 0 0 1 b o o k T h e H o u s e o f G u c c i : A S e n s a t i o n a l S t o r y o f Murder, Madness, Glamor, a n d G r e e d b y S a r a G a y Forden, itself based on a true story. On March 27, 1995, a kil- ler shot Maurizio Gucci, former chief of the world- famous fashion house, four t i m e s a s h e e n t e r e d t h e building where he worked, i n v i a P a l e s t r o i n M i l a n . Three years later, his ex- wife Patrizia Reggiani was convicted of arranging the killing, having hired a hit- man and several interme- diaries. W e , f r o m L ' I t a l o - Americano, had an oppor- t u n i t y t o i n t e r v i e w L a d y Gaga during the promotion of the movie. G a g a , h o w d i d y o u prepare to play a cha- r a c t e r a s c o m p l e x a s Patrizia Reggiani? W o r k i n g o n t h e s e t o f H o u s e o f G u c c i w a s a n absolute honor. My trailer was like a science lab, I had a huge billboard with every p o s s i b l e p h o t o w e c o u l d find of Patrizia Gucci, befo- re and after marriage. My c r e w a n d I s a t t o g e t h e r every morning to go throu- gh the scene, so I was not j u s t p u t t i n g o n h a i r a n d make-up, we were creating t o g e t h e r . W e a l s o u s e d s o m e t h i n g f r o m t h e e r a , every time: if it was a scene from the 70s, it was hair products from the 70s; if it was in the 80s, it was make- up products from the 80s, so we really stayed true to the character. How did you prepare before filming? We worked so much in our hotel room in Rome at the Hotel Baglioni to get ready for my character. The director, Ridley Scott, has s u c h a t t e n t i o n t o t h e details: we wanted to have everything look as natural a s p o s s i b l e . O b v i o u s l y , I didn't need the same pro- sthetic work Jared Leto did to play Paolo Gucci, but I wore a prosthetic bald cap every day to make sure the wigs looked good. What fascinated you a b o u t P a t r i z i a Reggiani? W h a t f a s c i n a t e d m e about the role, in general, was the arch of the charac- ter. When she was younger, Patrizia was just trying to s u r v i v e i n t h e w o r l d a n d t h a t ' s s o m e t h i n g a l o t o f people can relate to. The nature of her relationship with her mother Silvana, who used to show her clip- pings of bachelors, people that she wanted Patrizia to date, is also important: she was 12 when this was hap- pening. In crafting her cha- racter, I had to dig into her past, because most of the i n f o r m a t i o n I h a d w a s about her marriage and the years after it. What surprised you about her? T h e c h a r a c t e r w a s s o f a s c i n a t i n g b e c a u s e t h i s w o m a n w a s t r u l y i n l o v e w i t h M a u r i z i o G u c c i a n d w h e n t h e y g o t m a r r i e d Maurizio hadn't inherited Gucci, yet, and they didn't have money. So there is this assumption, before seeing the movie, that she was in it for the money. But what she wanted was simply to mat- t e r : t o M a u r i z i o , t o t h e Guccis, she wanted to feel Continued to page 6 Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani (Photo courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.) House of Gucci's star Lady Gaga: "I get chills every time I am in Italy"

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