Poll: What's Gaga's Best Leading Lady Turn?
Friday, October 11, 2024 at 6:00PM 
Have you ventured into the movie theater to watch the bomb of the season? Joker: Folie à Deux has confounded film critics and fans alike, leading many to point fingers at its creators in hopes of finding someone to blame. Some hate its moroseness, others can't stand the showtune numbers or the entire song and dance idea. Still, in the middle of this ruckus, one name should be left out of the discussion. Lady Gaga is the best thing about the DC Comics musical, even if she's terribly underutilized by Todd Phillips. Indeed, many Little Monsters have taken to social media to catalog every shot seen in the trailer or behind-the-scenes footage that centered on Mother Monster but somehow didn't make it to the finished flick. One can only imagine that more Gaga would have done Folie à Deux a world of good.
Regardless, the singer turned movie star's latest production seems to consolidate her screen siren status. A Star Is Born was no fluke, and though House of Gucci didn't nab her a second Best Actress Oscar nomination, it didn't blemish her filmography too much. Which leads one to ask – what's Gaga's best leading lady turn? You can vote, after the jump…
For context, here are a few words on each performance and details of where you can watch the movies. After all, you might want to check back on them before clicking on the poll below.
A STAR IS BORN (2018) Bradley Cooper
The fourth iteration of Hollywood's favorite story about itself – fifth, if you include Cukor's What Price Hollywood? – saw Lady Gaga step into the shoes that Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland, and Barbra Streisand once filled. Not that her Ally has much to do with the Esther Blodgetts of yore. Though their arcs share a trajectory, Gaga tackles her character with an unvarnished naturalism at odds with Old Hollywood stylings and New Hollywood bravado. It's not the sort of performance you'd expect from a music star whose past acting gigs had leaned on the overt artifice of her stage persona. But with Bradley Cooper behind and in front of the cameras, authenticity was the name of the game, even when it revealed some of novice starlet fragilities. For her efforts, Lady Gaga received a Best Actress nomination and won the Best Original Song Oscar.
A Star Is Born is streaming on Max. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.
HOUSE OF GUCCI (2021) Ridley Scott
If A Star is Born had shown that Gaga could do more than what her early cameos and American Horror Story roles showcased, then House of Gucci proves she could go back to that register. Moreover, she was able to revisit the melodramatic excess with a new feverish sense of purpose, taking biopic acting to its maximalist zenith. Is she coherent with the movie Ridley Scott mounted around her Patrizia Reggiani? Maybe not, but the whole thing would be better if the director had tapped into Gaga's wavelength rather than the other way around. A divisive turn, it nevertheless got a lot of precursor support during the 2021/2 awards season. Indeed, she was the only Best Actress contender to score the golden combination of BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG nominations. Gaga only missed the Oscar. In other words, she was almost there.
House of Gucci is streaming on Tubi. You can also rent and purchase it on Apple TV, Amazon, and the Microsoft Store.
JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX (2024) Todd Phillips
In all honesty, calling Gaga's Lee Quinzel a leading lady part might be stretching the truth a tiny bit. Absent for large portions of the runtime, Mother Monster is often trapped in silent spectatorship, ever-watching in the background of Folie à Deux's many trial scenes. It's a testament to her talent that the performance survives this treatment, not to mention a plethora of underdevelopment issues piling on top of each other until her last scene. Still, Gaga perseveres, struggling against her project to deliver a shot of needed madness, the feminine grotesque as parasocial nightmare. She's electric and, whenever Lee takes center stage, the misbegotten Joker movie suddenly has a pulse. Out of everyone involved, Gaga is the only one who could take the near anti-cinema ideas that Phillips conjured and make something worth watching out of them.
Joker: Folie à Deux is currently in theaters. Stay tuned for news of its PVOD and streaming release dates. Its physical media editions hit stores this December.
With that out of the way, it's time to vote!
Please sound off in the comments, share your choice, and make the case for Gaga's best leading lady, big screen performance.
Reader Comments (15)
It may be the bomb of the season, but it's a privelge to HAVE a bomb of the season. Bombs are fun. In the 80s and 90s, there used to be 1-2 high-profile bombs every year! It's so rare that studio money get spent on something off the wall - it may have been a mistake, but at least it tried.
I'd argue Gaga is wonderful in all three films. She has a very unique star persona that she can adapt well into different directorial visions. One of the best singer-actresses we' ve had.
She deserves to be cast in better films. I remember Jane Campion expressing admiration for her performance in House of Gucci - they should get something going, she could do wonders with Gaga.
Finally a mention to a movie we've all seen (sort of). Sorry but festival season feels like an endless monologue.
She's not a good actress. Period.
I thought she should have won Best Actress in 2021,HOG is messy but she lifts it up despite every other person being miscast or terrible,I don't get the OTT comments,Patrizia was like that in life and I don't find GaGa uneven the film yes but never her,very annoyed she was left out for Kidman's unconvincing plastic effort and Stewarts miscast laughableness.
I enjoyed her as Allie though she's shaky with the emotional scenes but she has real natural charisma and presence,what I liked was from the first couple of scenes I forgot she was GaGa who by 2018 had a larger than life persona from her videos,she had such a naturalistic way about her that made me forget about meat dresses and Poker Faces.
Madonna tried for years to make it a a filmstar and only hit her marks once or twice,Diana Ross nailed it first time out,Whitney tried but never really seemed comfortable,Janet tried and it didn't feel right,Peggy Lee got an Oscar nomination for her debut and the list goes on.
Mike in Canada -- I agree! I'd rather have ambitious bombs than a slew of financially successful mediocrity with naught an exciting idea to be found. Honestly, I tend to look at box office bombs with some affection. Even if I really disliked JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX, I'd rather have it than a dozen more nondescript comic book movies that all look the same.
Ad_Mill -- Can't even imagine what Gaga under Campion's direction would look like but you got me intrigued.
Peggy Sue -- Sorry for the fest overload. It's difficult to find time to write anything else when covering them, but things should alleviate on that front after the NYFF ends.
Mr Ripley79 -- And, sorry to say, Peggy Lee did not deserve that Oscar nomination.
Don't be sorry I never said that she did deserve it,I simply said she got an Oscar nomination,it's a bit like Jennifer Hudson getting her win,I don't approve but the stat is still there.
We definitely need a Smackdown for 1956. Peggy Lee has been slandered, the Oscar winner that year won for the wrong film, and the true Best Supporting Actress performance was given by a long time leading lady who refused to compete in the lesser category.
Finbar McBride -- That Smackdown already exists, from the days when it took place at Stinkylulu's blog. Here's the link:
https://stinkylulu.blogspot.com/2007/11/supporting-actress-smackdown-1955.html?m=1
Not sure if you'll like what the panel has to say about Peggy Lee, however.
Thanks for the link.
As expected, the sound bite analysis lacks depth and thoughtfulness. However, StinkyLulu's expended article is a fine discussion of Peggy Lee and her memorable, if uneven, performance.
What was not mentioned was that 1955 was the summer of Peggy Lee, Three weeks prior to the release of Pete Kelly's Blues, Lee's work as a songwriter, singer and actress was feature in the classic Disney animated film The Lady and the Tramp which was inexplicably snubbed by Oscar voters.
When Lee sings, she elevates the movie. Lee deserved her Oscar nod. I have never understood those who fail to recognize the acting power in a great vocal but have not trouble nominating those who mouth the words to the dubbing of someone else.
I've only seen A Star is Born so I have no opinion on this.
I’ve seen all 3, and I thought she was great in all of them.
I agree with Ad_Mil’s comment that she adapts to directorial vision. What strikes me is how well she works with 3 different leading men, each of whom seem to have pretty strong stances on what artistry is, and how it should work.
She seems to have a deep rapport with her co-stars, they’re on the same wavelength, they respect each other, and work well together. She can work with artists of a different era as well, such as her wonderful duets with Tony Bennett.
And it’s so fascinating that even in all these different milieus, she remains herself, a distinct individual.
Gaga is very talented, but I'm not sure she always channels that talent in effective ways. I personally don't feel like she was deserving of a nod in Gucci, and I don't quite understand the need to put so many other artists/musicians down in insisting that she was.
I'd like to see her in an actual full-blown musical. Or, conversely, something smaller-scale (all three of her starring turns have been in splashy, big budget films).
When I look at Gaga’s film career, I always think of Cher doing Silkwood and Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.
As limited and uneven as Cher is as an actress—and as unnecessary as her win for Moonstruck was—you have to be charmed and impressed with the sincerity and humility she brought to her film work in the beginning. It served her well with audiences and the industry.
I don’t take Gaga seriously as an actress because her acting career (from American Horror Story onward) feels like a gratuitous extension of her glam/camp persona. A Star is Born worked beautifully because a broken clock is right twice a day.
As odd as it is to say, I think she gives a great star turn in House of Gucci. While I didn't think she belonged anywhere near an Oscar, it did make me want to see her taking on fun leading roles and plum supporting roles in films. She understands how to use the camera and how to give line readings that invest you in the character. The biggest problem with the film, however, is that Ridley Scott seemed unclear about the type of film he was making. He should have followed Gaga and Pacino's lead.
I think she's great in A Star is Born and really surprised me. I only watched it once, and while Cooper is obviously giving a masterclass, she keeps up and they're well matched on screen. I think she's emotionally effecting in her two big moments, the Shallow sequence and the last scene, proving that she's an actress of real merit.
While I don't think she needs to follow the Cher model. I'd love to see her play an attorney in a fun adult thriller. I'd also love to see her take on a romantic drama/comedy like Moonstruck. Given some of her early scenes as Ally, I'd love to see her take on just an everyday woman.
@PeggySue Agreed. She's not a good actress. She's flat in everything. But she's gotten lucky in the roles that have been offered to her.