“I brought everything I had in my body and my soul into this role. . . . There was no hiding, mentally and physically,” the pop icon said at her buzzy film’s U.S. premiere.

BY NEILSON BARNARD/GETTY IMAGES.

Dressed in a show-stopping, shimmering silver Givenchy gown with a long cape, Lady Gaga made a grand entrance into the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Monday evening for the U.S. premiere of A Star Is Born. As Ally, a struggling artist who has just about given up her dream to be a singer, Gaga strips away her glam looks and suppresses her bold stage personality for first-time director Bradley Cooper’s stirring re-invention of this classic tale of love, fame, addiction, and loss.

“I exposed myself in ways I had never done before. I completely let go, and it was the scariest thing I have ever done,” said Gaga at the premiere. “I brought everything I had in my body and my soul into this role. I went back and thought about my fears, and my insecurities when I was younger and in high school. I was vulnerable. I wore no makeup and dyed my hair back to my natural color. There was no hiding, mentally and physically.”

The first version of A Star Is Born was released in 1937; additional iterations of the story came out in 1954 (starring Judy Garland) and in 1976 (starring Barbra Streisand). This latest riff, which opens October 5, follows the tumultuous relationship between alcoholic country rock star Jackson Maine (Cooper) and aspiring singer-songwriter Ally, who suffers from debilitating self-doubt and depression. Just like her character, Gaga said she understands what it’s like to have low self-esteem.

“I do see myself in her when I was younger,” Gaga said. “I did not believe in myself. I only saw the negative things in myself. I felt ugly. I was bullied in school, I was insecure. My only escape from the pain was music. But what’s different between me and Ally is that when I wanted to become a singer, I was dragging my piano from one dive bar to another playing music. I wasn’t going to stop until I made it.”

As moviegoers finally have an opportunity to see her take on A Star Is Born, Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, hopes the film will inspire them to help others, and to have faith in people who are trying to pursue their dreams.

“What I hope people will take away from the movie is to have the courage to believe in someone,” said the singer. “If there’s 100 people in a room and 99 don’t believe in you, that’s fine. But if just one person does believe in you, then it can change everything, your whole life. Bradley Cooper believed in me. He really helped me with this movie, and I could have not done this without him. We can all help each other by believing in others.”

Even Lady Gaga’s Fashion Is Proving She’s a Movie Star