Ruth Hogben and Andrea GelardinLady Gaga has stated repeatedly that her character in A Star Is Born, Ally, is nothing like her. But now she tells ELLE magazine that the character she actually identifies most with is the one that Bradley Cooper plays: alcoholic, fading rock star Jackson Maine.
“The opening moment [of the movie], where you see him pop some pills, down some booze, hop onstage, and just electrify the audience until the last bass note hits, and the limousine door shuts as the cameras are flashing, and it goes to total silence — this is how I feel as a performer,” Gaga tells ELLE.
“That’s what it feels like when you go onstage, and there are 20,000 people screaming, and you’re singing, and dancing, and performing, and then the show is over, and there is no sound. It’s emotional.”
Gaga — who in her Netflix documentary famously lamented losing the three major loves of her life as her career got bigger and bigger — also identifies with the fact that as Ally becomes more famous in the movie, things get rocky between her and Jackson.
“Success tests relationships,” Gaga tells ELLE. “It tests families. It tests your dynamic with your friends. There is a price to stardom.”
Even so, Gaga reasons, “I can’t make music or act without using and accessing the pain that I have in my heart. I mean, what better place to put it? Otherwise, it’s of no good use.”
Gaga is one of several cover stars of the November issue of ELLE, which hits newsstands October 23.
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