Lady Gaga Says Her Public Persona Is a ‘Separate Entity’ From Her True Self

1 minute read

Lady Gaga has always been a colorful character, and in a conversation with Jamie Lee Curtis, the singer explained that her public persona is partly an invention that is separate from her true self.

In conversation for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Gaga said, “What I am as Gaga really is what other people think Gaga is. It’s not necessarily what I am. Gaga is this stronger individual part of myself that I discovered being young in New York—loving music, meeting with young artists, working with musicians, with writers, studying the scene, and being involved in the lifestyle. I started to call myself Gaga. [It] was the nickname I had at my best.”

“It is a bit of a creation,” she conceded. “But it’s other people that have created [it] through what I’ve made; their perception of what Gaga is, is a separate entity from me.”

Watch the full interview on Variety.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com