Lady Gaga's movie career so far, from cameos to Oscars and Joker 2 (original) (raw)

Lady Gaga is about to take on one of the most prominent female roles in the comic book canon. As a version of Harley Quinn in the superhero sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, she takes on her biggest acting job to date. But her journey from the recording studio to Hollywood sets has already been a very successful one, spotlighting her unique talent and charisma.

Acting has always been a part of Gaga's life, with her first screen appearance coming way back in 2001 when she played a high school student in an episode of The Sopranos. When her music career exploded in 2008, she put acting aside with the exception of a handful of uncredited appearances and cameos.

In 2013, she began to pursue a more concrete acting career. She secured her first movie role as the assassin La Chameleon in 2013's Machete Kills and then made a major impact as The Countess in American Horror Story: Hotel. She would continue her association with AHS with a special guest appearance as Scáthach in the Roanoke series.

Lady Gaga in American Horror Story: Roanoke. (FX/Alamy)

Gaga's appearances got decent reviews, but she was deployed more as a flamboyant symbol and a bit of stunt casting in Ryan Murphy's series than she was as a legitimate actor. But it was in 2018 that Lady Gaga truly announced herself as a future star of the big screen. That was the year of A Star is Born.

The fourth version of its central story, A Star is Born featured Gaga in the titular role of the young musician discovered by an alcoholic industry veteran whose career is declining. Bradley Cooper had been in place as star and director for several years, but Gaga's role had been originally offered to Beyonce, while Adele was also in the frame at one stage.

Gaga's central performance is sensitive, nuanced and infused with the undeniable star quality she has always possessed as a musician. Her barn-storming performance of the song Shallow, which she also co-wrote, is one of the greatest musical moments in modern cinema. That song won her an Oscar and she got tongues wagging when she performed intimately with Cooper at the ceremony.

Lady Gaga earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in A Star is Born. (Warner Bros/Alamy)

Significantly, though, Gaga also got herself a nomination for Best Actress and nobody would argue that it was anything other than deserved. While she had been cast in midnight movie-style roles throughout the early 2010s, A Star is Born marked her arrival as a genuine Hollywood force.

Never one to rest on her laurels, Gaga took on a lurid real-life character for her next major role. She signed on to play Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott's historical crime story House of Gucci. Reggiani was convicted in 1998 for ordering the murder of her ex-husband, fashion boss Maurizio Gucci.

House of Gucci is a ludicrous film and only Gaga truly seems to key in to the level of absurd camp that it needed in order to work. The movie is a dull watch for the most part, but it comes alive when Gaga brings her luminous presence to the screen. She got numerous awards nominations, including at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

Lady Gaga played Patrizia Reggiani in crime story House of Gucci. (Universal/Alamy)

With her music career still firing on all cylinders, Gaga chooses her roles wisely. So it has been three years between House of Gucci and Joker. Harley Quinn, though, proved to be too exciting a role for Gaga to turn down. The first Joker movie smashed the billion-dollar mark at the box office and earned 11 nominations at the Oscars, with Joaquin Phoenix winning for Best Actor, so Gaga could well find herself being very busy on red carpets in the early part of next year.

It's clear that Joker: Folie à Deux is a big swing. Very few would've predicted the decision to turn the Joker sequel into a musical and the mixed reviews so far suggest that the film will be every bit as divisive as its predecessor. But, if we've learned anything from Lady Gaga's acting career, it's that she thrives on big swings. There's certainly nobody else like her.

Joker: Folie à Deux is in UK cinemas from 4 October.