Lady Gaga Recalls 'Terrible' Audition for LensCrafters Commercial: 'I Used to Just Freeze'

Speaking about fame and living in the public eye, Lady Gaga said, "In a lot of ways, I feel like I've lost everything"

Photo: Photography by AB+DM / Ahmad Barber + Donte Maurice

Lady Gaga is looking back at a particularly cringeworthy audition.

The House of Gucci star, 35, admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that she didn't always nail her auditions when she was setting out to become a young actress.

In fact, she said, "I was terrible at auditioning. I was so bad. I could never get a role. I used to just freeze."

Gaga recalled doing a callback for a LensCrafters commercial, which she didn't end up landing because she froze during it: "I would stand there and go, 'Oh my God. Ah! You gotta do this perfect. I'm not making my dad proud.' "

Fast forward to today and the pop star has an Oscar win (for Best Original Song) plus a nomination for Best Actress after starring in 2018's A Star Is Born, as well as a Golden Globe win for her work on TV's American Horror Story.

The "Rain on Me" singer told THR about the difficult trade-off that comes with a fame and notoriety.

"I made a trade when I decided to pursue my career in the way that I have," she said. "I didn't know what that trade was going to be, but it happened. And in a lot of ways, I feel like I've lost everything."

Photography by AB+DM / Ahmad Barber + Donte Maurice

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For her latest role in Ridley Scott's Gucci, she plays Patrizia Reggiani, acting out the real-life trauma the wife of heir to the fashion house Maurizio Gucci went through before ultimately having him killed.

"I was falling apart as [Patrizia] fell apart. When I say that I didn't break character, some of it was not by choice," said Gaga. "I took the pain I feel from being attacked when I was a young girl, from feeling left behind by people that I love, from feeling trapped that I can't go out into a world that I love. I took that pain and I gave it to her. ... I put my entire lifetime into her."

Photography by AB+DM / Ahmad Barber + Donte Maurice

Scott told THR that he wanted Gaga for the part after seeing her in A Star Is Born.

"There was only one person ever in my sights at this moment in time who could carry this pretty forthright woman. I found [Lady Gaga] to be inordinately approachable and, frankly, a lot of fun. She's very smart and very, very perceptive. I knew after that first meeting, it was essential that she would do this part. She must. And, of course, because of her very recent success [in A Star Is Born], that made it a lot easier for us to get going and get a proper budget."

House of Gucci is in theaters Nov. 24.