Ahead of 2019 Oscars, colleagues old and new praise nominee Lady Gaga
"I loved her from afar for a long time," her co-star says.
Lady Gaga competes for her first-ever acting Oscar role Sunday night and while it's pretty impressive for anybody to score a nod for their first film, this New Yorker isn't just anybody.
According to colleagues both old and new, Gaga is pretty extraordinary.
"I loved her from afar for a long time," said Oscar nominee Sam Elliott, who plays Bradley Cooper's character's brother in "A Star Is Born."
"My daughter Cleo's Gaga's age, so I've been listening to Stefani's music for a long time," Elliott tells ABC News, using the singer's first name. "But having a chance to get in close and, y'know, fall in love with her on a different level, up close ... it was an amazing experience."
In fact, Elliott loves being able to call Gaga by her real name which is Stefani Germanotta.
"She's Gaga onstage, she's Gaga in all that stuff she puts on, those get-ups," he says. "But on a personal level, she, to me, is Stefani."
Another artist who worked with Gaga before she was famous, agrees that her Oscar nod isn't that shocking.
"I'm not surprised. I mean, if anybody deserves an Oscar nomination it's her," New Kids on the Block (NKOTB) member Joey McIntyre tells ABC News. "She's a wonderful, powerful, humble performer. She was so nice and kind, and just ready to mix it up."
Joey said that in 2008, a then-unknown Gaga appeared as a featured artist on the NKOTB's 2008 album, "The Block," and then toured with them as their opening act.
"We were in the studio together right before she had her first hit," he says. "And, you marvel [at] that ... it's one of those 'smile stories.'"
Tune in to the Academy Awards Sunday night at 8 p.m. on ABC to see if Gaga wins Best Actress, Best Original Song, or both. "A Star Is Born" has seven nominations.
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