Lady Gaga Discusses Her Chemistry With Bradley Cooper and More in Vogue's Latest Cover Story

Updated on 9/14/2018 at 11:00 AM

Lady Gaga has been in the music game long enough to have completely changed it. We've seen her grow and evolve, blossom and rah rah oohhh-la-la her way into the spotlight over the past 10 years, and she isn't slowing down — at all. In her upcoming performance in the highly anticipated remake of A Star Is Born, she'll be costarring with none other than Bradley Cooper. As Vogue's October cover star, she spoke more about her chemistry with Bradley, her personal journey throughout her career, and her experience with sexual assault. Read some of her most powerful statements ahead.

On her past costumes and eccentric ensembles: "It was sort of like a very polite 'F*ck off.' It was never about looking perfect — it was always about just being myself. And I think that's what it's always been about for my fans, too. It was a form of protection, and a secret — like a wink from afar. I'm a monster, and you're a monster too.
On the past decade of her life: "There has been a galaxy of change . . . I would just say that it's been a nonstop whirlwind. And when I am in an imaginative or creative mode, it sort of grabs me like a sleigh with a thousand horses and pulls me away and I just don't stop working. . . . You . . . make friends, you lose friends, you build tighter bonds with people you've known for your whole life. But there's a lot of emotional pain, and you can't really understand what it all means until ten years has gone by."
On her evolving image: "For me, fashion and art and music have always been a form of armor. I just kept creating more and more fantasies to escape into, new skins to shed. And every time I shed a skin, it was like taking a shower when you're dirty: getting rid of, washing off, shedding all of the bad, and becoming something new."

On working with Bradley Cooper: "He sings from his gut, from the nectar! I knew instantly: This guy could play a rock star. And I don't think there are a lot of people in Hollywood who can. That was the moment I knew this film could be something truly special."
On hanging out with Cooper for the first time: "The second that I saw him, I was like, 'Have I known you my whole life?' It was an instant connection, instant understanding of one another."
On the portrayal of love and fame in A Star Is Born: "They're both very complex, layered things, with a lot of emotional depth, and he captured that. This is what I think makes the film so successful: that it was so real. And I've lived it, so I can testify to that."

On the #MeToo movement: "I feel like I've been an advocate but also a shocked audience member, watching #MeToo happen. I'm still in disbelief. And I've never come forward and said who molested me, but I think every person has their own relationship with that kind of trauma."
On her upcoming "Lady Gaga Enigma" shows in Las Vegas: "I've always hated the stigma around Las Vegas — that it's where you go when you're on the last leg of your career. Being a Las Vegas girl is an absolute dream for me. It's really what I've always wanted to do."
On the importance of human connection: "I am not a brand. I have my unique existence, just as everyone else does, and at the end of the day, it's our humanity that connects us — our bodies and our biology. That's what breeds compassion and empathy, and those are the things that I care the most about. Kindness!"