Lady Gaga’s epic and emotional House of Gucci NYFCC awards acceptance speech is a work of art
Lady Gaga attends the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards at TAO Downtown. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Lady Gaga, snubbed by the Oscars, gave the acceptance speech we’ve all longed for after winning best actress for House of Gucci.
In a billowing strapless black dress, Gaga delivered a nearly 14-minute-long speech that reflected on playing Patrizia Reggiani.
The 35-year-old said that her roots in Italy meant winning at the New York Film Critics Circle on Thursday evening (17 March) “extended the legacy of my great family”.
“I accept this award on behalf of my Italian ancestors, and behalf of my love of all things Italian,” she said.
“This award marks the end of a very long, beautiful journey. I’m really sad it’s ending.
“It’s really hard to say goodbye to art because you learn so much about yourself.”
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— Lady Gaga Now 🃏 (@ladygaganownet) March 17, 2022
Lady Gaga talks meatballs and ‘having big feelings in a man’s world’
Playing Reggiani, the former jet-set socialite convicted in 1999 for ordering the murder of her husband, Maurizio Gucci, took a deep mental toll on Lady Gaga.
Living as Reggiani for a year-and-a-half and speaking in an Italian accent for nine months, Gaga eventually felt she was “bringing the darkness” with her home and had to have a psychiatric nurse on set to support her.
So in true Stefani Germanotta fashion, Gaga’s acceptance speech was a work of art. Going into incredible detail about how she prepared for the role before sharing her thoughts on meatballs, accents and heritage.
“I wasn’t born in Italy,” she said from the stage at TAO Downtown in Manhattan, “but I am a Germanotta and I am a proud descendant of my Venetian and Sicilian ancestors.”
“I spent hundreds of hours reading interviews aloud with this accent and just speaking constantly in this style, Patrizia never leaving me,” the hitmaker added.
“Immersing myself in the glory, history of Italian art, religion, fashion, and music.
“It wasn’t just about trying to transform myself; it was more importantly about tapping into a part of my heritage that’s been with me since before I was even born.
“Every day I began work by putting my feet on the ground and feeling the Italian soil under my feet, knowing that’s where I came from and that’s what made me everything I am today.”
Lady Gaga attends the 2022 New York Film Critics Circle Awards. (John Lamparski/WireImage)
Dedicating the award to her Italian grandmother, a “tough” and “fearless” woman, she said: “These women taught me how to have big feelings in a man’s world, and having big feelings is beautiful.
“It’s Italian, it’s who we are: We’re hard work and big feelings. And also meatballs – or actually in Italy meatballs aren’t a real thing, it would be ragù.”
As much as Gaga was not nominated for the Oscars and failed to win in the Screen Actors Guild last month, Gaga stressed that winning in the NYFCC meant a lot to her as a native a New Yorker.
“I will cherish this award as if it were handed to me by my ancestors, because I know it came from my home,” she said.
“I know that this came from you because you saw authenticity in my performance – you could see my Italian-New York heart.”
