Better Actress: Lady Gaga vs Ariana Grande

[steven 6,744]

Both are pretty average tbh, but I think Ariana's acting is slightly better. Gaga is not a good actress.

[MonsterVoices 46]

Have we actually seen either of them in a proper acting-heavy serious movie? Not really...

[SpadesToStart 3,861]

Ariana is a better comedic actor and Gaga is a better dramatic actor. 

[Emigrante 10,012]

9 hours ago, LGAte said:

I think fans who think Gaga is a bad actress are just so used to over analyzing her and how she acts in interviews/videos/real life that they look for awkwardness that isn’t there to the regular viewer. 
 

I did this with AHS:Hotel and thought she was bad at first but it was because I was looking for her to be stiff. It made the character seem stiff. But I had this strange expectation she was going to not be able to do the role. Turns out the role was supposed to be kind of stiff…

Years later I came back to Hotel just for fun and was able to throw away that it was her because I already got rid of that expectation and newness of the show- and I realized she was pretty damn good. If I had not known who she was before hand at all I would have found her compelling as a new actress. 
 

People are looking for her music in her acting (and I don’t literally mean her music, but her way of her, or her aura)…but she translates it different when she acts. 
 

I do think she was brilliant as Harley Quinn and it’s a shame that that movie was panned. She was very believable as depressed and deprived and ****ed up a bit. It was subtle and good. 

She hasn’t chosen “that role” yet. I think after LG8 and Rose Bean gets to be a bit older, Gaga might find a role that suits her. I think she would actually do well playing someone angry or violent. I know that’s ****ed up but I believe she comes off the most sincere when she is enraged and a role like a remake of Misery perhaps or something where she is a politician who is secretly awful behind closed doors would suit her well. When she is nice…it’s sweet in real life…but it’s boring on screen. She is much more compelling when fire is in her.

Yeaaah exactly. I mean the only slander about Gaga’s acting that much I’ve seen on gagadaily. She’s usually praised of her roles. Of course she still gor a whole road ahead of her, but saying she’s a bad actress, you’re delulu, especially as a moderator. UPS there i said it. 
one thing I agree in is that she needs to pick up more interesting and less commercial roles. More fleshed out, especially no music roles. 

Edited September 30 by Emigrante

[TimotheeChalamet 7,112]

I like Gaga's acting more but I think the roles they played are too different to allow a comparison (and neither of them are really good, though Gaga improved a lot during the years: AHS Hotel and Joker are on a completely different level)

Edited September 30 by TimotheeChalamet

[Ziggy 14,368]

I think Gaga is kinda fine but was good in ASIB bc it closely followed her life. I think Ariana is genuinely very good at comedy. She doesn't have to be this super flexible, all around powerhouse. That's a pretty recent metric that arose around Meryl's success, but for a long time someone was considered a great actor for doing a niche well. Ariana is a great comedic actress imo.

Edited September 30 by Ziggy

[Ivy 13,851]

I think Gaga's more versatile. I can imagine Ari in ASIB but not really for HOG or Joker

So Gaga 

[melon 3,671]

I think Ariana is a great comedienne and is genuinely hilarious in some things (Wicked Pt1, Scream Queens). 

I’d like to see Gaga do a horror film or thriller. I think she needs to do more film and TV, she can be superb and is very dedicated but I fear she hasn’t acted at any point when her mental health has been amazing. Would be great to see her do something fun or comedic too (maybe needed as she seems to almost take on her characters traits a bit too much?)

[ANVEEROY 66,880]

Wow - 59/40!

[Killa 18,952]

13 hours ago, RAMROD said:

Gaga has better range. Ariana just have typical Nickelodeon/Disney channel acting, robotic, better than Skai but not much. If not without the singing and Erivo, Wicked would look so funny, ...and bad.

I think even erivo was kinda not great. Convincing in some scenes

[Monstermilo 5,480]

i feel like gaga can act, but she over acts in a lot of her roles and she hasnt picked many good roles other than ASIB.... HOG/joker shes really gone out of her way to pick flop roles 

ariana in wicked 1 & 2 and on SNL is better than anything LG has done sadly

with that said out of the pop stars i think gaga and ariana are the only ones who CAN act............ none of their peers come close to them 

i think ASIB is better than any project ari has been part of, but overall ariana can act a little bit better 

Edited October 1 by Monstermilo

[Monstermilo 5,480]

16 hours ago, niccolo said:

Gaga has taken bigger swings, hard to assess. 

you mean shes picked terrible roles other than ASIB yes you are correct 

[MadArchitect 1,537]

17 hours ago, weed said:

Both are good, I think they're very different. Ariana plays young, innocent, aloof characters, and she's great! Gaga plays older, more complex characters, and she's great!

I think Selena Gomez is a better actress than both  but I think Gaga will surpass her one day.

THISSS that Me duele la vulva de solo pensar en ti hits hard every time!

[nATAH 58,700]

4 hours ago, Monstermilo said:

you mean shes picked terrible roles other than ASIB yes you are correct 

she's picked great roles, it's the directors who were at fault for screwing her over

[ANVEEROY 66,880]

On 9/30/2026 at 12:01 AM, SevenWonder said:

Gaga.

But Ariana is better on SNL. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:25 AM, princedeeblebleble said:

Ariana, I'm sorry but Wicked films were also better than any film Gaga has been in as well, and especially on SNL Ari bodies most people. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:36 AM, NUTELLA said:

Resist, @NUTELLA, be strong

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:41 AM, Duella Dvil said:

When I say neither are very strong actors they just have charismatic personalities THEN WHAT

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:43 AM, REALITY said:

Ariana's definitely got comedy roles down, but Gaga's also never really had a chance to do that (aside from SNL). Gaga's still the better, though, imo. Barring HoG, which was just a bad film in every regard, I think she's killed every other role. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:46 AM, Starmie25 said:

I find Gargar more convincing 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:47 AM, Ricardo said:

I think Gaga’s only really good acting was in ASIB, but she was basically playing herself. She was better in Joker than in HOG, imo, but I don’t think she was particularly good in that either

so Ariana 

but I think we’ve seen more of Ariana’s acting than Gaga’s, so maybe Gaga can get better at it.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 1:05 AM, ALGAYDO said:

Gaga as a serious actor >>>>>> Ari 

ari as a comedy actor >>>>>>>> Gaga 

but I do find Gaga really funny, she just hasn’t had the opportunity to showcase it properly tbh (it definitely peaked through a little during some of the ASIB and HOG scenes, but not enough for me tbh) 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 1:18 AM, River said:

Gaga is not a good actress 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 1:52 AM, Sepsami said:

I always though Gaga in ASIB wasn't that great but maybe that's because I've been such a fan of her for years at that point that it felt like watching a good friend? Then again Bradley wasn't that great either, the movie all together was overrated imo oop  Hated the ending

The music was absolutely stellar though.

I think Ari just pulls ahead, she's had more experience and I think she can pull off a serious role better when given the chance. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:28 AM, MOT said:

I haven't seen Ari act, but Gaga is definitely better.

To be serious, I thought Gaga was good in ASIB. She had good chemistry with Bradley, her scenes with her father were good, and it wasn't her fault that the second half of the movie got a bit silly ... and there WAS that Oscar nom.

I thought she had some strong moments in HOG, but it was a bad movie, and there was also that accent... I think she needs to stay away from accents. Patrizia was Italian and Scathach was Scottish and they both sounded Russian.

And then we had JFAD. I wanna know what happened. She was good in the scenes she was in, but why did they have those midnight rewrites which ended up with a lot of her scenes being cut ? My suspicion (based on a bts youtube video called Finding Lee) is that she was struggling on set and they were up against the clock.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:34 AM, RochesterJoannster said:

Both are pretty good. They both play characters who act like their own public personas. 

Gaga’s biggest stretch of an acting role was having to play a pop star who actually had to follow more rules and had a much more typical rise to fame than Gaga herself did. 

Somehow that was a bigger stretch than seeing her in AHS, Gucci or Joker. I’ll give it to my girl. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:35 AM, Dante J said:

I love Gaga but she is not a good actress 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:36 AM, dynamite said:

Ariana for Wicked alone! I just wish she wouldn't act like she's always in character outside of it...

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:39 AM, MadArchitect said:

i mean we are on Gagadaily so of course Gaga's gonna win, it would be interesting to take this pol into an unbiased platform and see what the GP thinks, I think gaga by far, she has more range, Ari feels like she's playing different versions of the same character since victorious

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:53 AM, nATAH said:

gaga and ally are incredibly different people

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:00 AM, RochesterJoannster said:

The Countess felt and acted more like Gaga than Ally did. 

 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:02 AM, Chromanne said:

First Gaga needs to get a proper role, rather than directors using her for popularity. Gaga has a lot of acting potential as she could showcase that in ASIB, 911 music video and even HoG. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:11 AM, LGAte said:

I think fans who think Gaga is a bad actress are just so used to over analyzing her and how she acts in interviews/videos/real life that they look for awkwardness that isn’t there to the regular viewer. 
 

I did this with AHS:Hotel and thought she was bad at first but it was because I was looking for her to be stiff. It made the character seem stiff. But I had this strange expectation she was going to not be able to do the role. Turns out the role was supposed to be kind of stiff…

Years later I came back to Hotel just for fun and was able to throw away that it was her because I already got rid of that expectation and newness of the show- and I realized she was pretty damn good. If I had not known who she was before hand at all I would have found her compelling as a new actress. 
 

People are looking for her music in her acting (and I don’t literally mean her music, but her way of her, or her aura)…but she translates it different when she acts. 
 

I do think she was brilliant as Harley Quinn and it’s a shame that that movie was panned. She was very believable as depressed and deprived and ****ed up a bit. It was subtle and good. 

She hasn’t chosen “that role” yet. I think after LG8 and Rose Bean gets to be a bit older, Gaga might find a role that suits her. I think she would actually do well playing someone angry or violent. I know that’s ****ed up but I believe she comes off the most sincere when she is enraged and a role like a remake of Misery perhaps or something where she is a politician who is secretly awful behind closed doors would suit her well. When she is nice…it’s sweet in real life…but it’s boring on screen. She is much more compelling when fire is in her.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:32 AM, Bradley said:

I wonder who GagaDaily will vote for 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:56 AM, gagzus said:

Gaga by a mile. Her roles were all selling points and praised in every movie she’s been in. She’s the only person who played up the camp and theatrics of HoG besides Jared Leto. Bad accent aside she was the best thing about that movie. Same for Joker. 

Ari was great in Wicked dont get me wrong, but it is a role she’s literally prepared her whole life for. I think if you stuck Gaga in something like Guys & Dolls as Adelaide you’d see her in a new light. Before Wicked Ariana’s acting was literally what it was; kids sitcom acting.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 4:24 AM, msr said:

How can you choose if you haven't seen Ari act lol

 

On 9/30/2026 at 4:42 AM, JohnPokerface said:

I think they both need to do more acting and give more variety and range for me to form a strong opinion on this. But what I will say is that to me Ariana always looks like herself even though she's acting. I think it's because she apparently always does her make up herself and because she has this permanently shocked/confused face expression and those uneven eyebrows due to whatever she did to her face.

With Gaga based on the projects she did I don't feel like she's as passionate about acting as she is about music, by now she did several movies but it still feels like a sidequest to me. So even though Gaga has improved as an actress from AHS hotel to FAD I don’t think that acting is her strongest suit and aside from ASIB her choice of acting projects is very questionable.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 4:57 AM, MOT said:

I was joking. 🙂

 

On 9/30/2026 at 4:58 AM, Head Empty said:

Gaga has inserted a lot of herself into every role she took – for better or worse. I'm looking forward to the moment where she can let a character completely take charge of her.

I think she has to learn to let go of things that make her comfortable as an actress in order to become great. No music, no Freddie and Sarah, no fashion. Just a multi-faceted character with a great script. Preferably in a story that doesn't revolve around a man again 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 5:38 AM, TheMontebello said:

Thinking Gaga wasn't great in ASIB is insane, sorry.

I did feel she was kinda stiff in AHS Hotel, but the character was like that. House of Gucci is kind of a mess but not because of her. She was as campy as the movie demanded her to be. I have not seen Folie a Deux.

I haven't watched other Ariana's projects but she was good as Cat.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 6:53 AM, msr said:

Sorry I had just woken up when I read your comment lol

 

On 9/30/2026 at 7:30 AM, niccolo said:

Gaga has taken bigger swings, hard to assess. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:00 AM, NeanderthalDavid said:

Ariana, I was sold on Cat Valentine from day 1. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:07 AM, ShinyGaga said:

I've seen Gaga from AHS to Joker 2 & I feel like she hasn't evolved much as an actress.  She has this tryhard act sometimes  

As for Ari, can't believe some of  you  call her good.

 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:48 AM, Killa said:

Both suck but ari had a more convincing role. Whole Gaga has more depth. She has something and sometimes almost works

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:52 AM, Celloo Deng said:

Ari is a great comedic actress but Gaga has shown a bit more range so far 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:53 AM, CYCLOPS said:

Gaga has more range but she's very theatre. Ariana is more natural on camera but she's playing variations of herself. nothing wrong with either 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:58 AM, Killa said:

This and She has but She had enough scenes to expose her flaws. Lets Hope She works on those. The tv screen Is very unforgiving, its very small things

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:59 AM, RAMROD said:

Gaga has better range. Ariana just have typical Nickelodeon/Disney channel acting, robotic, better than Skai but not much. If not without the singing and Erivo, Wicked would look so funny, ...and bad.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 8:59 AM, mamo said:

If Gaga chose better roles/scripts and directors to work with, I believe she could be great.

But it's been a downfall since ASIB which is a shame. House of Gucci and Joker were huge misfires. Her next role if she chooses to needs to be a slam dunk. I still think The Countess on AHS is her best and most interesting role to date. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 9:54 AM, SidewalkUnicorn said:

I voted Ari but I need to see both in more varied material to really form an opinion.

Except for ASIB Gaga’s kind of getting typecast imho and needs to break out.

I DO think ASIB was LG best ACTING job. She wasn’t playing herself. In ASIB she was subtle and natural in her acting instead of campy and ott.

And it’s not about what I like more. My favorite Gaga role by far is The Countess where she’s most campy, ott, and GAGA. I could watch 10 seasons of The Countess:The Series lol.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 10:25 AM, gagacabana said:

Every month we discuss about Gaga's acting career so every month I feel obliged to say again how Lady Gaga is a character herself that's being created, played and impersonated by Stef the germ. The real question we should be asking is: who's the better actress, Lady Gaga or Stefani Germanotta 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 10:26 AM, gagacabana said:

Omg dude you're so smart, you should make that thread yourself 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 10:29 AM, timdrake said:

Gaga has gotten better recently for sure. In Machete Kills she was notttt good, but she's since learned how to better sink into a dramatic role. 

Ariana is better at comedy than drama in my opinion. Her drama comes off a little too try-hard and forced. 

If I had to pick one, I'd rather watch Gaga, but they've both got their strengths and weaknesses. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 10:32 AM, weed said:

Both are good, I think they're very different. Ariana plays young, innocent, aloof characters, and she's great! Gaga plays older, more complex characters, and she's great!

I think Selena Gomez is a better actress than both  but I think Gaga will surpass her one day.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 11:40 AM, steven said:

Both are pretty average tbh, but I think Ariana's acting is slightly better. Gaga is not a good actress.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:02 PM, MonsterVoices said:

Have we actually seen either of them in a proper acting-heavy serious movie? Not really...

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:06 PM, SpadesToStart said:

Ariana is a better comedic actor and Gaga is a better dramatic actor. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:12 PM, Emigrante said:

Yeaaah exactly. I mean the only slander about Gaga’s acting that much I’ve seen on gagadaily. She’s usually praised of her roles. Of course she still gor a whole road ahead of her, but saying she’s a bad actress, you’re delulu, especially as a moderator. UPS there i said it. 
one thing I agree in is that she needs to pick up more interesting and less commercial roles. More fleshed out, especially no music roles. 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 12:28 PM, TimotheeChalamet said:

I like Gaga's acting more but I think the roles they played are too different to allow a comparison (and neither of them are really good, though Gaga improved a lot during the years: AHS Hotel and Joker are on a completely different level)

 

On 9/30/2026 at 2:27 PM, Ziggy said:

I think Gaga is kinda fine but was good in ASIB bc it closely followed her life. I think Ariana is genuinely very good at comedy. She doesn't have to be this super flexible, all around powerhouse. That's a pretty recent metric that arose around Meryl's success, but for a long time someone was considered a great actor for doing a niche well. Ariana is a great comedic actress imo.

 

On 9/30/2026 at 3:51 PM, Ivy said:

I think Gaga's more versatile. I can imagine Ari in ASIB but not really for HOG or Joker

So Gaga 

 

On 9/30/2026 at 4:24 PM, melon said:

I think Ariana is a great comedienne and is genuinely hilarious in some things (Wicked Pt1, Scream Queens). 

I’d like to see Gaga do a horror film or thriller. I think she needs to do more film and TV, she can be superb and is very dedicated but I fear she hasn’t acted at any point when her mental health has been amazing. Would be great to see her do something fun or comedic too (maybe needed as she seems to almost take on her characters traits a bit too much?)

 

On 9/30/2026 at 11:28 PM, Monstermilo said:

i feel like gaga can act, but she over acts in a lot of her roles and she hasnt picked many good roles other than ASIB.... HOG/joker shes really gone out of her way to pick flop roles 

ariana in wicked 1 & 2 and on SNL is better than anything LG has done sadly

with that said out of the pop stars i think gaga and ariana are the only ones who CAN act............ none of their peers come close to them 

i think ASIB is better than any project ari has been part of, but overall ariana can act a little bit better 

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