--- description: Lady Gaga has always been a colorful character, and the singer has now explained that her public persona is a bit of an invention title: Lady Gaga Says Her Public Persona Is a 'Separate Entity' From Her True Self image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad47a4aa2fc92524/698896edcf40a82aa4c438c1/lady-gaga-persona-variety.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lady Gaga Says Her Public Persona Is a 'Separate Entity' From Her True Self by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 1:20 PM CUT  Lady Gaga launches Love Bravery Collection at Macy's Herald Square in New York City, May 4, 2016. Lady Gaga launches Love Bravery Collection at Macy's Herald Square in New York City, May 4, 2016.John Lamparski—WireImage by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 1:20 PM CUT [Lady Gaga](http://variety.com/2016/tv/features/lady-gaga-jamie-lee-curtis-actors-on-actors-1201790073/ "undefined") has always been a colorful character, and in a conversation with [Jamie Lee Curtis](http://time.com/4360244/jamie-lee-curtis-green-orc-costume-warcraft/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), 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](http://time.com/3718883/oscars-2015-lady-gaga-performance/ "undefined") 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_](http://variety.com/2016/tv/features/lady-gaga-jamie-lee-curtis-actors-on-actors-1201790073/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4361123/lady-gaga-stefani-germanotta-true-self/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4361123/lady-gaga-stefani-germanotta-true-self/"},"headline":"Lady Gaga Says Her Public Persona Is a 'Separate Entity' From Her True Self","datePublished":"2016-06-08T13:20:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:27:49.715Z","description":"\"What I am as Gaga really is what other people think Gaga is\"","url":"https://time.com/4361123/lady-gaga-stefani-germanotta-true-self/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad47a4aa2fc92524/698896edcf40a82aa4c438c1/lady-gaga-persona-variety.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad47a4aa2fc92524/698896edcf40a82aa4c438c1/lady-gaga-persona-variety.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lady Gaga Launches Love Bravery Collection At Macy's Herald Square","caption":"Lady Gaga launches Love Bravery Collection at Macy's Herald Square in New York City, May 4, 2016.","creditText":"John Lamparski—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4361123/lady-gaga-stefani-germanotta-true-self/","name":"Lady Gaga Says Her Public Persona Is a 'Separate Entity' From Her True Self"}}]}] ```