Lady Gaga: I studied house cats, foxes and panthers for House of Gucci role

Much has been talked about how Lady Gaga prepared for her turn as Patrizia Reggiani — the Italian socialite convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci (of the Gucci family).

It was previously reported that the 35-year-old spent months staying in character and tapped on her own trauma for the House of Gucci role.

However, the pop star-turned-actress also revealed in a press conference for the film that she studied three different animals to help shape and get into the character.

"I actually had three different animals that I was working with," Gaga said.

"So earlier in her life, I was a cat, like a house cat. In the middle of the film, the second act, I was a fox. And so I studied the way foxes hunt, and they're actually quite playful when they hunt.

"And then I studied panthers for the end. So for the third act of the movie she becomes this, you know, this big cat, and I watched… like I watched lots of videos about the way that panthers hunt. And they're sort of seductive in the way that they do, and they sort of seduce and then they pounce."

Gaga added that she spent a lot of time reading about Patrizia, watching interviews about her as well as interviews that she gave. And, she "grappled with who she was and why this happened for a long time".

She explained: "This was a real person, and is a real person. And also a person that, in a lot of her interviews, lies all the time. So I wanted to be able to decide for myself, okay, what does she look like when she lies, what does she look like when she's not lying?

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGi3Bgn7U5U[/embed]

"And what, what was the real woman, Patrizia Reggiani, before she got married? Before she had him murdered, there's less about her when she's younger."

'She was simply too hurt'

Gaga believed that there was more to Patrizia's story than simply greed.

She said: "I believe she was a real woman that fell in love, she not only loved Maurizio, but she loved what he meant and the way that he empowered her within the family business.

"And yet I do believe that in that system, with this sort of systemic oppression, that this happened because she was simply too hurt."

Gaga considered her character as a survivalist who simply wanted to gain recognition and be of some value to her husband.

According to Gaga, Patrizia's story was also one about the idea of dreams. She shared: "I think she had… she had a dream of a better life for herself, and Gucci had all of it. And she wanted everything.

"But I don't think she wanted everything because she was, you know, this crazy gold-digger, or just this opportunistic, you know, obsessive woman. I think she believed it was what she was just supposed to do. That coming from her family, this was… this was what made sense."

ALSO READ: Lady Gaga experienced 'some psychological difficulty' shooting House of Gucci

Transforming into the infamous socialite

Recreating Patrizia from her twenties to forties was a challenge as well, said Gaga.

She said: "It was a challenge, and our trailer, where I got ready everyday, was like a science lab. We had continuity photos that were in order of scenes, so that we always knew what I looked like at any given moment."

In order for Gaga to transform into the fashion diva, her makeup team needed to perfect an array of looks that spanned decades with specific and accurate styling to compliment the era.

Gaining inspiration from photos of Patrizia herself, Gaga said: "There were fifteen wigs back there that were actual replicas of the way she wore her hair at exact times in her life.

"They were specific to the era, even the chemicals that were used to dye the hair were specific to the era. I mean, everything we did was very accurate."

ALSO READ: Lady Gaga drew on real trauma for House of Gucci role

Could this snag Gaga another Oscar?

There's not much that Gaga cannot do.

Not only has she seen great success in her career as a pop star, but she even snagged a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars for her performance in A Star is Born.

And it seems like all eyes are on Mother Monster as House of Gucci is drumming up quite the Oscar buzz.

For her role as Patrizia, Gaga just won the Best Actress award at the New York Film Critics Circle and will receive the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Icon Award.

House of Gucci premieres in cinemas on Dec 30.

nurhadirah@asiaone.com