Lady Gaga has clearly made a name for herself when it comes to full-body transformations. Whether it’s embodying an auburn-haired musician alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born or as a robot-alien-human hybrid for her sixth studio album Chromatica, there’s no denying that she ticks all the boxes when it comes to human metamorphosis.
This is precisely why her casting as scorned Italian socialite Patrizia Reggiani in the upcoming flick House Of Gucci was spot on.
Directed by Ridley Scott, the biopic about the murder of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of fashion house founder, Guccio Gucci. The murder was orchestrated by his ex-wife, Patrizia, who was later convicted of arranging his assassination in 1998. The Italian media referred to her as the “Black Widow” during her trial.
Thanks to initial promotional photography, our first look at Lady Gaga and Adam Driver as Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci proves the pair boast an uncanny likeness to their characters. In fact, the film’s trailer saw the duo in an array of ’90s-inspired fashion, a dreamy Lake Como villa—which you can now rent for the night—and sporting controversial Italian accents.
Of course, how well they *behave* like the real people they’re portraying is almost entirely dependent on their performance—just look at Lady Gaga’s nine-month dedication to “living” as Patrizia—but hey, comparing the visuals is an entertaining exercise.
Below, the cast of House Of Gucci in costume and how they compare to the real people of the luxury fashion house’s inner circle.
Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani
As mentioned, the Grammy Award-winning singer plays Maurizio Gucci’s ex-wife Patrizia, who was sentenced to 29 years in prison after being found guilty of hiring a hitman to murder her ex-husband.
Not an out-of-the-blue crime of passion, tension first arose when Maurizio left his family for another woman, Paola Franchi. To make matters worse, Maurizio announced that he’d be selling his shares in his family’s fashion business, after Gucci lost millions of dollars while he was at the helm.
“I was angry with Maurizio about many, many things at that time,” Patrizia revealed in a 2016 interview with The Guardian. “But above all, this. Losing the family business. It was stupid. It was a failure. I was filled with rage, but there was nothing I could do. He shouldn’t have done that to me.”
The former couple, who married in 1973, were together 18 years and had two children before splitting in 1991.It later emerged in court that Patrizia worked closely with four accomplices—including a hitman and a getaway driver—to orchestrate the killing.
“Maurizio was cutting us out,” she later told a Discovery+ documentary, by way of explaining her motivation. “He no longer wanted to see his family. We had four houses in Saint Moritz, and he didn’t want to give even one to my daughters.”
She was released in 2016, after serving just 18 years of her sentence.
Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci
Sporting Maurizio’s signature spectacles and side-swept ‘do, Adam Driver is the embodiment of the late head of the Gucci fashion house. As history tells us, Maurizio was shot dead by a hitman, hired by his ex-wife, as he entered his office on March 27, 1995.
Only 47 years old when he died, Maurizio’s last business deal was when he sold his remaining stock in his family’s business, $170 million to Investcorp, ending the Gucci family’s association with the company to InvestCorp for approximately AUD $162.8 million. At the time, he was also in a serious relationship with Paola Franchi.
Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci
Played by an unrecognisable Jared Leto, the Batman star plays Paolo Gucci, Aldo’s son and Maurizio’s cousin. Whlie fans were impressed with Leto’s transformation—complete with balding head, prosthetic nose and fake moustache—Patrizia Gucci, Maurizio’s second cousin, was insulted by the interpretation.
In fact, she condemned Leto’s look, calling out his “unkempt hair and a lilac corduroy suit” as “horrible, horrible… I still feel offended”.
Al Pacino as Aldo Gucci
Played by Scarface star and Hollywood legend Al Pacino, Aldo Gucci was responsible for Gucci’s worldwide success. Unfortunately, the Gucci family were less than impressed with Al Pacino’s casting, calling out the comparison.
“My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant,” said Patrizia Gucci via the Associated Press. “He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn’t resemble him at all.”
Known as the “Michelangelo of Merchandising“, Aldo entered the family business at 14-years-old while they only sold fine leather goods in Florence, Italy. In 1938 and by the age of 20, Aldo opened up his first Gucci store in Rome.
Overnight, Gucci became a status symbol, with the house’s iconic GG logo an immediate must-have in Hollywood. From there, he opened the brand’s first American store in New York, before venturing out with stores in Chicago, Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
In January 1986, Aldo was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for tax evasion, managing to evade approximately AUD $9 million by the age of 81, as per The Florentine. However, in 1990 he passed away at the age of 84, due to complications from prostate cancer.
Mădălina Ghenea as Sophia Loren
Reeve Carney as Tom Ford
Jack Huston as Domenico De Sole
The Fargo actor stars as Domenico De Sole, who served as the president and CEO of Gucci Group before moving to his current role as the chairman of Tom Ford International.
Camille Cottin as Paola Franchi
