BANG Showbiz English
Sir Ridley Scott had a “very good marriage” working with Lady Gaga on ‘House of Gucci’.
The 83-year-old filmmaker was very impressed by the ‘Poker Face’ singer’s work ethic and thinks the 35-year-old star – who plays Patrizia Reggiani – has made a much better transition to working in movies than other people with her musical background have.
He told Deadline: “I mean, I work like a f****** demon, but she and I were really very good for each other because she keeps up. She’s on everything.
“It became more and more enjoyable because, singers can be a bit fragile. This is a big movie, and some singers have not made that transition. They make it in music, they do it quite well.
“I’m not going to name singers, but when a singer goes onto film, they can evaporate. Somehow, they haven’t got the presence. Not her. She’s right there, and she knows the camera. She’s used to that, from being a performer on stage.”
And Ridley thinks Gaga’s varied musical background has helped her as an actress.
He continued: “Have you ever seen one of her shows? Well, you’d have to go to Las Vegas, but it’s like that.
“And then there is the jazz show she does with Tony Bennett, who loves her like a dad. But this other show is from an entirely different universe, and the Las Vegas crowd flocks to see her.
“So, she’s a multitalented, multifaceted producer, really, apart from being a performer.
“My hat came off to her, because I could see she knows exactly what she’s doing. And I know exactly what I’m doing. It was a very good marriage.
“She loved the fact we moved like lightning. We did the film in 42 days, and came in $5 million under budget.”
Meanwhile, the director insisted ‘House of Gucci’ is a “satire”, not a thriller.
He said: “I didn’t want to make it into a thriller drama because it’s not. I saw it more as a satire. Satires are frequently examples of the ‘like.’ This might be likened to Medici or Borgia.
“So, suddenly I thought, you know what? This is a satirical view of a 20th century family that has gone into a self-destruct mode by…you want to put a simple word on it, but you can’t. I don’t think you can say it’s greed. I think from the Gucci point of view, they wanted to protect their name. “