Lady Gaga has long been thought to be in the running for Best Actress at the Oscars, nosing towards the front of the pack with every increasingly bat-shit press appearance or vox pop. She literally became Patricia Reggiani, her character in House of Gucci, or so she says: as she told British Vogue for the December 2021 cover, she “lived with” Reggiani for over a year-and–a-half, embodying the Gucci murderess full-time. The former Italian socialite, now 73-years-old, is still alive, but Gaga refused to meet with her.
By the end of the shoot, Gaga told W magazine, she thought Reggiani had sent a swarm of flies to attack her. “I truly began to believe that she had sent them,” Gaga told the magazine earlier this year. “I was ready to let go.”
There’s no doubt that much of this comes across as, well, mad. But more than that, it has been revealing of Gaga’s propensity for such grand pomp and artifice: the deeply felt need to perform, that which presumably led her to pursue such wild Method in the first place. Fundamentally, it’s exciting storytelling.
The BAFTA nominations were revealed today, and while many of the picks aligned with prior forecasts — Will Smith in Best Actor, which is his to lose; all of the Best Film nominees — this year is notable more for its glaring absences than surprise inclusions. Kristen Stewart as an incandescent, high-camp Diana in Spencer? Nothing for her from the refined British votership. Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter? Nope. Best Actor dark horse Andrew Garfield, hot on the heels of a starry return to the Spider-Man franchise? Nada. But Gaga? She’s in.
The nomination rounds off a clean sweep of the Oscar predecessors (SAG, the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and BAFTA) for Gaga. And what’s more: she’s the only presumed nominee to do so. Suddenly, she has one hand on a statuette.
It’s not the first time Gaga has been here, of course. Turn your mind back to four three years ago: A Star is Born made nearly half-a-billion worldwide, won Gaga acclaim and awards bonafides across the globe, and marked her evolution from erstwhile popstar into fully-fledged leading woman. She ultimately lost out on the Oscar in a tight race with Olivia Colman (for an equally terrific turn in The Favourite), but the mark was most certainly made.
This year, Gaga and Colman are once again expected locks. And Erik Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Hollywood blog AwardsWatch, thinks it’s all but Gaga’s to lose — if she wins the BAFTA. Which is far from unlikely. Across last year’s Best Actress race, he notes, only two candidates made the precursor sweep: Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman, and Frances McDormand, eventual winner, for Nomadland. “Never discount the art of a great campaign,” he says. “Gaga should now be considered the frontrunner.”
Well, there you have it. Nothing is ever certain on the awards circuit, of course. But it looks like Gaga is in for a bellisimo Oscars come March.
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