Lady Gaga has told Sky News that her latest film role took a toll on her – but it’s a toll she welcomed.
“That’s part of my artistry, is leaning into the suffering of a character,” she said at the premiere of House of Gucci, which tells the true story of the family behind the fashion house.
And while all families have their differences not many end in murder.
In the film the singer plays Patrizia Reggiani who was convicted in 1998 for hiring someone to kill her former husband Maurizio Gucci.
“To say that it would be easy to play a murderer would be a lie,” Gaga said. “I don’t believe she had the murder gene, but I do believe that she was triggered and pushed so far over the edge that she committed this murder.”
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Image: Patrizia Reggiani, ex-wife of slain fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci, leaving court during her murder trial in 1998
Gaga, who stayed in character for 18 months while making the film, says after inhabiting the character for so long it will take time to extract herself again.
“I would say that in terms of letting the character go, I don’t know that I’d ever let her go,” she explained.
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“Today I chose this ring and it looks just like her engagement ring – I feel her inside of me all the time and I think it will take years.
“It took me years to shed Ali from A Star Is Born and I think the same will be true here.”
Image: Benedetto Ceraulo (L) and Orazio Cicala were hired by Patrizia Reggiani to kill her ex husband
With this Gucci role only her second lead after that Oscar-nominated performance in A Star Is Born – Gaga is coy about whether she will dominate Hollywood like she has the music industry.
“I don’t know, you have to ask the audience,” she laughed.
The singer leads an all-star cast in the movie which also includes Adam Driver, Salma Hayek and an almost unrecognisable Jared Leto, wearing heavy prosthetics for the role of Paolo Gucci.
Image: Lady Gaga, from right, Adam Driver, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek at the House of Gucci premiere Pic: AP
As another actor known for staying in character, and who also has a successful music career, Leto said he can see parallels between himself and the Chromatica star.
“I think Lady Gaga and I are both artists, rule breakers in our own ways, and what I love about is her bravery,” he told Sky News.
“She’s absolutely fearless and it was fun to do this with her, I really appreciated the opportunity and the freedom and her commitment.
“I expect a lot out of myself and when other people make great commitment, it’s really an absolute dream.”
The film has been a long time coming for Leto, who’s wanted to work with director Ridley Scott for almost two decades.
“I remember I met Ridley Scott in 2003, and I went up to him at a film festival and basically begged to work with him, and about 18 years later, he said ‘yes’.
“He’s one of my favourites – I mean, Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner, The Martian – he’s just one of a kind, a real maverick, a real master, and I feel really fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him.
“Genuinely, I mean it, it touched me and it was a very, very special project for me, it doesn’t happen like this every time, so I feel really fortunate to be here and to be part of the journey.”
Image: Maurizio Gucci was gunned down on the steps outside his office as he arrived at work in March 1995 Pic: AP
For Adam Driver, who plays Maurizio Gucci, the film marks his second time working with Scott – following period drama The Last Duel which came out in cinemas last month.
He says the film-maker brings out a different side of him.
“His process is so opposite to mine in a way – he works fast, likes minimal takes, and sometimes I like to do a lot and overthink it to make it over precious,” Driver told Sky News.
“He’s very much about first impulses and I love it, and he’s the most unpretentious, hilarious person to work with – I love being on set with him.”
The movie sees the twists and turns of his character’s relationship with Gaga’s Reggiani.
Driver says they were both given the time to really dig into the roles.
“We had the luxury of two weeks before we started [filming] of rehearsal.
“Changing the script a lot and really finding the arcs of both characters, and so it was great.
“Ridley sets a tone that is very collaborative so it’s a dream job.”
House of Gucci is out in cinemas in the UK on November 26th.
Hollywood actor and Oscar-winning director Robert Redford, known for films including Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, All The President’s Men and The Sting, has died at the age of 89.
Redford, who was also the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the US, died on Tuesday morning.
In a statement, his representative said he was “surrounded by those he loved”, at home in “the place he loved” in the mountains of Utah. “He will be missed greatly,” she added.
Image: The actor and filmmaker won the Oscar for best director for Ordinary People in 1981. Pic: AP
Born Charles Robert Redford Jr in Santa Monica, California, in 1936, he attended college on a baseball scholarship but later went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
He debuted on Broadway in the late 1950s before moving into television, in shows such as The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Untouchables.
Rising to stardom in the 1960s, Redford became a go-to leading man in Hollywood and a huge star of the following decade, leading films including The Candidate, All the President’s Men and The Way We Were.
He worked hard to transcend being typecast for his good looks, through his political advocacy and a willingness to take on unglamorous roles.
Image: Starring alongside Charles Dierkop and Robert Shaw in The Sting. Pic: Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
Image: On set behind the camera during the filming of A River Runs Through It. Pic: AP
In the 1990s and 2000s, his film credits included Indecent Proposal, The Last Castle and Spy Game, and he also worked actively as a filmmaker – helming movies including A River Runs Through It and The Legend Of Bagger Vance. In 1998, he both starred in and directed The Horse Whisperer.
But he was best known for his role as wily outlaw the Sundance Kid, opposite Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy in the 1969 film. The pair became a famous screen partnership, starring opposite each other again in The Sting a few years later, and good friends.
As well as his starring roles, Redford was also an activist and an accomplished filmmaker – winning the Oscar for best director for Ordinary People in 1981. It was the second of his two Academy Awards – the first won for his acting performance in The Sting – as well as an honorary prize in 2002.
Image: Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All The President’s Men, released in 1976. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
In a career spanning seven decades, he also received three Golden Globe Awards, including the Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement honor in 1994.
In his later years, Redford took on a challenging role in All Is Lost, a 2013 survival story that featured virtually no other characters and barely any dialogue. His performance earned a standing ovation after the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2018, he received critical acclaim again in what he called his farewell movie, The Old Man And The Gun.
His legacy lives on in the Sundance Film Festival, which grew into a cornerstone of the film industry and provided a launching pad for filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Darren Aronofsky.
And in 2016, former President Barack Obama awarded him the presidential medal of freedom – considered the US government’s highest civilian honour – saying at the time that Americans “admire Bob not just for his remarkable acting, but for having figured out what to do next”.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Robert Redford leaves behind his wife Sibylle Szaggars and two daughters – Shauna, a painter, and Amy, an actress and director.
He was previously married to Lola Van Wagenen. One of their children, Scott, died at the age of two months from sudden infant death syndrome. Another, James, died of cancer in 2020.
‘One of the lions has passed’
Image: Meryl Streep starred alongside Redford in Out Of Africa in 1985. Pic: Cover Images via AP
Tributes have been shared across social media following the announcement of Redford’s death.
Meryl Streep, who starred in Out Of Africa and Lions For Lambs opposite Redford, said: “One of the lions has passed. Rest in peace my lovely friend.”
Filmmaker Ron Howard, known for Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, described Redford as “a tremendously influential cultural figure for the creative choices” he made as an actor, producer and director, and said Sundance had been a “gamechanger”.
Image: Pictured with his wife Sibylle Szaggars in 2012. Pic: Reuters
Marlee Matlin, star of the Oscar-winning CODA, said the film “came to the attention of everyone” because of the Sundance Festival.
“Sundance happened because of Robert Redford. A genius has passed,” she said.
“He was part of a new and exciting Hollywood in the 70s and 80s,” wrote author Stephen King. “Hard to believe he was 89.”
Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, wrote: “Decades ago, Robert Redford came to Utah and fell in love with this place.
“He cherished our landscapes and built a legacy that made Utah a home for storytelling and creativity.
“Through Sundance and his devotion to conservation, he shared Utah with the world. Today we honor his life, his vision, and his lasting contribution to our state.”
Spain has become the latest country to threaten a boycott of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel competes.
It is now the fifth broadcaster to say it will pull out over Israel’s participation, following recent announcements by the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland – but the first of the competition’s so-called “Big Five”, a group which also includes Britain, Germany, Italy and France.
These countries provide the biggest financial contributions to Eurovision, with participants automatically qualifying for the final round, and their withdrawal would increase the pressure on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the event.
Image: Ireland, represented by EMMY at Eurovision 2025, have also said they will not take part if Israel does. Pic: Reuters
The Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group, the competition’s governing body, said a decision on Israel’s participation is pending and that it has “taken note of the concerns expressed by several broadcasters”.
RTVE, the Spanish state broadcaster, announced the decision following a board vote on Tuesday.
The measure, proposed by president Jose Pablo Lopez, garnered 10 votes in favour, four against, and one abstention in the 15-member board, the broadcaster said in a statement.
At the time, the EBU said the decision reflected “concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s contest would bring the competition into disrepute”.
Image: Yuval Raphael represented Israel at this year’s event. Pic: Reuters
Recent editions of the contest, which has always expressed political neutrality, have involved demonstrations against Israel’s continued military action in Gaza – launched in response to the attack by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023, which left some 1,200 people dead.
Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack, finished second in this year’s competition, held in Basel, Switzerland, in May – but there were protests before and during her performance. Austrian singer JJ, who won, has also called for Israel’s exclusion in 2026.
Image: Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest JJ from Austria. Pic: AP
Israel has denied accusations it is committing genocide and claimed its actions have been in self-defence against Hamas. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its military action.
In a statement following the vote in Spain, contest director Martin Green said he understood the “concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”, and that consultation with members is ongoing “to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions”.
Broadcasters have until mid-December to conform if they want to take part.
What have others said?
Image: The Netherlands was represented by Claude in Switzerland. Pic: Reuters
Dutch broadcaster AvroTros said last week that it was taking a stance in response to the loss of life in Gaza, with the deaths of journalists there a factor in the decision.
Following his win in May, singer JJ said it was “disappointing to see Israel still participating”, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais. “I would like the next Eurovision to be held in Vienna and without Israel,” he added.
Ricky Hatton’s ex-girlfriend Claire Sweeney has paid tribute to the former boxer after he was found dead on Sunday morning.
Tributes have poured in for Hatton, 46, who had a decorated career in the sport.
His body was found at his home in Hyde and police are not treating the death as suspicious.
Sweeney, who met Hatton on ITV’s Dancing on Ice last year, wrote on Instagram: “I’ve needed a few days to process the devastating news about my dear friend Ricky.
“My thoughts are with his family especially his children Campbell, Millie, Fearne and Lyla, his granddaughter.
“To them, Speaky (Paul Speak) and to all his friends who loved him so deeply and for so many years I send you my deepest sympathy. Ricky, you were the people’s champ.