Lady Gaga’s growing cabinet of awards is already full to bursting, but the songstress has been tipped to add arguably the most valuable piece of silverware to date at the 94th Academy Awards.
Kisten Stewart may be the obvious favourite for Best Actress come March 27, 2022, but Lady Gaga is one of several second-tier talents Female First believes has a very credible chance at the upset.
The icon formerly known as Stefani Germanotta already has an Oscar to her name after winning the award for Best Original Song in 2018 with “Shallow,” the headline track from A Star is Born with Bradley Cooper.
‘Gaga’ also received a Best Actress nomination for her performance as singer-songwriter Ally Maine in that flick, but will her stellar contribution in the upcoming ‘House of Gucci’ bring home the win?
According to BritishGambler, the triple-threat star is an 8/1 pick to win the prize with a little less than six months to go, level with Jessica Chastain for her role as the titular character in The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
And there’s every chance Gaga’s odds will drop as the stars get to work in promoting House of Gucci, which boasts an ensemble cast littered with Oscar-worthy talent:
Germanotta dazzles in the role of Patrizia ‘The Black Widow’ Reggiani, the infamous former wife of Gucci heir Maurizio who (spoiler alert) earned international infamy after successfully ordering the assassination of her late ex-partner.
Among her co-stars is the likes of Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Jeremy Irons, each of whom have won Academy Awards in the past.
Of course, Gaga’s performance is the only one that will genuinely count towards her Oscars odds, but it never hurts one’s individual chance to be part of a well-reviewed film.
And then there’s the performance from Gaga itself, which is equal parts emotion and eccentricity, with the role of Reggiani seemingly made for the 13-time Grammy-winner, who has deep Italian ties herself.
The cast of the film lies in direct contrast to that of Spencer, the film that’s earned Stewart the 4/9 favourite tag to win Best Actress next year.
The American’s portrayal of Princess Diana (maiden name ‘Spencer’) is very much the driving force of the film, making it easy to see why Stewart sticks out among the crowd.
But the market also largely reflects simply how people are wagering, and there’s a possibility that a story concerning Britain’s Royal Family is getting some disproportionate attention from bettors.
While Stewart does an admirable job living up to the distraught condition of the late Princess of Wales, one could argue there’s a lot more range to Gaga’s latest outing on the silver screen.
CNN recently provided quotes from the 35-year-old regarding her didcation to preparing for the role as she said: "I lived as (Reggiani) for a year and a half.
And I spoke with an accent for nine months of that. Off camera, I never broke. I stayed with her. It was nearly impossible for me to speak in the accent as a blonde. I instantly had to dye my hair, and I started to live in a way whereby anything that I looked at, anything that I touched, I started to take notice of where and when I could see money."
House of Gucci may be a crime drama based on actual events, but director Ridley Scott has done a great job of giving Gaga the room to explore her clear knack for comedy in portions.
It’s that range and the grandiose feeling of the film that could easily influence odds in her favour over the coming months, and it’s our guess Gaga will attract a lot of wagering attention in the near future.
2022 Best Actress: Odds Leaders
Actress (Film Nomination) Odds
Kristen Stewart (Spencer) 4/9
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) 8/1
Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) 8/1
Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers 10/1
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) 14/1
Jodie Comer (The Last Duel) 16/1
Jennifer Hudson (Respect) 18/1