Lady Gaga reveals her one career regret as Joker: Folie à Deux premieres in cinemas

Lady Gaga has admitted she was 'so hard' on herself in her early days of fame and wishes she could go back in time and tell herself to be kinder to herself

Pop sensation Lady Gaga has opened up about her regrets over being "so hard" on herself during the dizzying heights of her early stardom.

Now 38, the 'Poker Face' singer, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, soared to fame with hits like 'Bad Romance', but in hindsight, she feels she may have been too self-critical. Reflecting on her journey to stardom and the lessons learned along the way, Gaga shared her thoughts on the 'Smallzy's Surgery' podcast.

She expressed: "You know, I probably would have told myself not to be so hard on myself sometimes but I would have just reminded myself what I would remind any younger which is just to be myself because all that matters is that you're yourself. Then, you can go to bed and just wake up in the morning."

The award-winning artist also emphasised the importance of inner peace, saying: "And also, to find the softness in it all because I feel like having peace in anyone's life is the most valuable thing that we can have."

Branching out from music to acting, the 'Telephone' star is set to appear with Joaquin Phoenix in 'Joker: Folie a Deux'. Despite her acting success, Gaga is eager to return to her musical roots and share new tunes with her fans.

Gaga revealed her anticipation: "All I can tell you is that I've just been feeling so creative, and really connected to music and I'v been working on so much music. I'm really excited to play it for the fans. But every time I play a character, or create a character, it has an absolute influence on all aspects of my output and this character just gave me so much because she can not be pinned down. I would say 100 percent playing Lee was something that stayed me through a lot."

In her latest acting role, 38-year-old Gaga plays the love interest of the Joker (Phoenix) in the Todd Phillips-directed sequel. The US star told Variety magazine that she did not have a psychiatric nurse on hand during the filming of the psychological thriller – unlike when she starred in House Of Gucci. "I was very much working closely with Todd and Joaquin every single day and it was like a completely different experience," she said on the black carpet of the film's recent premiere.

The film is the sequel to Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance in 2019 film Joker, which also scooped the Oscar for best original score by Hildur Guonadottir. Introducing the film on-stage at the premiere, director Phillips said "it is not necessarily the sequel you might expect", in videos circulating online.

The film, whose title refers to the French term for "madness of two", is a musical fantasia following Arthur Fleck, known as The Joker, and Quinn, as they fall in love at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum. They are known for their toxic romantic relationship in the comics, and trailers for the film show Phoenix and Gaga singing and dancing together.

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