TO PLAY shy aspiring singer Ally in A Star Is Born, Lady Gaga channelled her own experiences - some more painful than others.

"I was told when I was first starting out that I should get a nose job, but I didn't because I wanted to be who I was," the pop icon, 32, told Sky News at the film's London premiere.

Continued Gaga, "I really believed in myself when I started out pounding on doors to break down all of the barriers in the music industry, I really had courage … [Ally] doesn't have that, she's not brave and she's not full of self-confidence."

In the much-viewed trailer for A Star Is Born, Gaga's character makes her physical insecurities plenty clear. "Almost every single person has told me they like the way I sounded but they didn't like the way I look," Ally confesses to Jackson Maine (played by Bradley Cooper) in the clip.

Despite the Poker Face singer's own self-assured nature, she concluded, reflecting on such hurtful feedback for her role "was a vulnerable experience."

Earlier this month, Gaga admitted that starring in the movie had "changed my life".

"I was able to take all the pain, all of the despair, all of the memories of betrayal or let-downs I've gone through, and put it somewhere where it could help people," Gaga told news.com.au. "This movie has changed my life. Now I feel like the pain was not for nothing. If I can help make one person feel stronger or feel understood, it's worth it."

This story originally appeared in the NY Post and is republished here with permission.