When Lady Gaga shows up on TODAY as she did Friday, dressed in over-size black patent leather stilettos and in a nearly floor-length white wig, the superstar musician is just being herself. It turns out despite outward appearances, that self is a pretty down-to-earth woman.

“There’s a perception that what I’m doing is all a big show, and I really, truly feel that it’s really just part of who I am,” she said, adding that if she wasn’t famous, she’d still be who she is today. “I’d just be doing it on the Lower East Side.”

Gaga was visiting to highlight a very special event: A brief clip of the behind-the-scenes making of her next music video, “G.U.Y.,” the full version of which will premiere just ahead of NBC's “Dateline” on Saturday. The video is a lush spectacle filmed at the legendary Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif., and took six days to shoot, Gaga said on TODAY.

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“We had our work cut out for us,” she said, but added it was “such a pleasure working with the whole team … we just had a really, really great time.”

Gaga always seems to be having fun whatever she’s doing, even if it generates controversy later — as her recent show at Austin’s South By Southwest festival proved. During that show, a performance artist named Millie Brown fake-vomited on Gaga as part of the act.

“It wasn’t meant for the TODAY Show!” said Gaga, looking somewhat abashed. “It was meant for a club performance in Austin.”

It’s about art, she explained. “We both really believe in artistic expression and strong identities, and I support (Millie) in what she does. And 'Artpop,' my new album, is about bringing music and art together in the spirit of creative rebellion.... But we totally understand that some people won't be into it.”

But enough are: Gaga has over 41 million “Little Monsters” who follow her on Twitter alone. So when TODAY's Savannah Guthrie asked if she ever thinks about hanging up those black patent leather stilettos, Gaga gasped theatrically, and grinned.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I will let the winds of life take me where they may.... I’m a hard worker.”

Even, she noted, in her off time. One of her favorite non-Gaga-as-you-know-her activities involves jumping behind the bar of her father’s restaurant Joanne in New York City and handing out drinks. “Then he turns around and he’s like, 'Hey, what are you doing back there?'” she laughed. “‘Don’t waste the booze!’”

Catch more with Lady Gaga Friday night on "Access Hollywood," and tune in Saturday at 8 p.m. ET for the premiere of "G.U.Y." followed immediately by "Dateline."