Lady Gaga may have cancelled her Montreal gig on Monday night due to illness, but she still made an appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier Friday to promote her new Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two.
Gaga – real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta – opened up about her battle with “chronic pain” as she spoke to reporters at TIFF, also discussing why she chose to take her film straight to the small screen.
The singer said at a press conference: “There’s a very strong piece of me that believes pain is a microphone. It does me no good unless I transform into something that is. I hope people watching this who are struggling with chronic pain, know that they aren’t alone.”
READ MORE: Lady Gaga postpones Montreal show due to laryngitis, respiratory infection
WARNING: Five Foot Two trailer contains graphic language
Gaga debuted the teaser for the upcoming documentary, which featured the pop star laughing, crying and “getting stoned in grandma’s car.”
“The most important thing in this process was that this film didn’t come across as big and commercial,” she said. “For everyone who is watching it, I don’t want them to see how perfect everything is. That’s simply not true. That would not be in line with me as an artist. The most important thing is to be authentic.”
Gaga went on to say that she would be taking a well-deserved rest very soon, which means no more music for a while.
However, she insisted that doesn’t mean that she “won’t still be creating.”
READ MORE: Lady Gaga laughs, cries and gets ‘stoned in grandma’s car’ in ‘Five Foot Two’ doc teaser
The Bad Romance singer added: “It doesn’t mean I don’t have some things up my sleeve,” but she added she wants to “slow down for a moment, for some healing. Because that’s important”.
Gaga’s documentary, directed by Chris Moukarbel, enables fans to take a look inside the musician’s life over an eight-month period during one of the most vulnerable and impactful times of her career.
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From doctors visits to releasing her 2016 record, Joanne, to performing during the Super Bowl LI halftime show, the singer gives viewers an unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at her life and personal struggles.
Gaga: Five Foot Two premieres Thursday at TIFF and streams on Netflix on Sept. 22.