When it comes to portraying a notorious onscreen character, an actor’s emotive performance can complete their transformation. However, Lady Gaga’s portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani for House of Gucci was helped along by a little more than just her acting chops.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Frederic Aspiras—Lady Gaga‘s personal hair stylist and wig designer for over a decade—spilled the beans on what went into Gaga’s signature ‘dos throughout the flick.
Take a quick glance at any of Patrizia‘s coiffed hair or wispy bangs and it’s easy to see how influential her mane was to her image. And while whipping up a series of tresses for Lady Gaga sounds simple enough, it was far from affordable.
“These wigs alone cost like $10,000,” Aspiras told the publication. “For my job, it was about being able to use hair as a tool for the actress to really delve into the mind of this person.
“So I had to be as authentic as possible by using exact techniques of a 1970s hairdresser—wet set rolls, backcombing, French lacing, spiral perms.
“That translated into four to five hours of hair prep for Gaga every morning, compared to the six hours required each day to transform and age Jared Leto into Gucci heir Paolo Gucci.”
Referring to Patrizia’s hair, he described how it formed his vision for Gaga’s onscreen mane, saying, “I wanted the texture. I wanted the vibe. I wanted the way it moved. Exactly the way it felt. Because it needed to transport you to that time.
“This was about 25 years of a person’s life… If you came to our glam trailer, it was like CSI. Floor-to-ceiling mood boards.”
In an interview with People, he also revealed that he sat with the film’s script “for five months” while planning out the abundance of wigs.
“I went [through the] script page by page and thought of the characterisation of the person, the inspiration of what this hairstyle was going to look like for that scene, and the actual real-life photo of Patrizia at that time.”
Taking it several steps further, the celebrity hairstylist revealed that in order to make her locks perfetto, he created a “500-page directory” detailing Gaga’s hairstyles which resulted in ten final wigs.
But it wasn’t the extensive directory that broke Aspiras. In fact, it was the moment Gaga asked him to dye her hair brown to prepare for her role that left him in tears.
“We re-dyed her real hair from her platinum signature blonde hair back to brown months before the movie was shot, just so that she could be in the character,” he told People.
“I mean, you’re talking about someone who is so devoted to characterisation and the art that she willingly wanted to colour white hair.
“It was past her shoulder, it was very healthy, gorgeous and wanted to colour it brown. And I was so beside myself. I was crying,” he added. “I was like, ‘Are you sure about that?’ […] And we coloured it brown.”
Ready to thank the Father, Son and House of Gucci? Say your prayers, because Ridley Scott’s House Of Gucci is coming to Australian cinemas on December 26, 2021.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
