Kate Winslet Is Reclaiming Her Image—Just Don’t Call Her Brave

As a seasoned film critic with a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling, I find Kate Winslet‘s journey in the world of cinema truly captivating. Her ability to transcend the conventional boundaries between cast and crew, as demonstrated in her collaboration with director Michael Gondry on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” is a testament to her unique talent and spirit.

Kate Winslet holds a deep affection for wooden tables. Her admiration runs so deep that this esteemed actress has amassed quite a collection of them. These tables, though not ornate antiques, hold a certain charm for her. As she explains, “It’s the knots and the whorls, the shape and texture that captivate me. They can feel like long-standing companions, and there is something emotionally stirring about an aged table steeped in history—I find envisioning its past a delightful exercise.

This pastime significantly influenced her professional decisions in an unforeseen manner. Back in 2015, Winslet’s friends, proprietors of an auction house in Cornwall, discovered a table from the residence of Annie Penrose. She was the sibling of Roland Penrose, who spent many years married to Lee Miller, a well-known model turned war photographer who took chilling images of Paris’s liberation and the camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Upon reaching her home, it sparked thoughts in Winslet about all those who had previously sat there. Her thoughts drifted towards Miller. The mind that had long pondered people’s tales and how to convey them was captivated by a persistent query: Why hadn’t anyone ever produced a film about Lee Miller?

For eight years, Kate Winslet diligently worked to bring the project to life. The outcome is titled “Lee“, set for release on September 27th, with Winslet both producing and portraying the main character. Unlike a traditional biopic, “Lee” centers around Miller’s wartime work as a photographer and her transformation into a war photographer, chronicling some of history’s most harrowing moments. Notably, the film signifies a significant reunion, as it is directed by Ellen Kuras, a cinematographer with whom Winslet previously collaborated on one of her most cherished films, the 2004 release “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind“.

In creating the movie, Winslet collaborated extensively with Antony Penrose, son of Miller (portrayed by Josh O’Connor), whose book “The Lives of Lee Miller” formed the foundation for the script. Winslet believes the prolonged development was necessary to accurately portray Miller’s story, as she conducted extensive research. Throughout the process, Winslet felt that Miller, who passed away in 1977, was guiding things from behind the scenes: “Let me tell you, she was pulling the strings the whole time.

At the end of June, Kate Winslet participates in a Zoom meeting from her hotel room in London, radiating energy. She begins by asserting that she’s not wearing any makeup, although she appears strikingly similar to the Winslet we’ve grown accustomed to over the past 30 years. Her conversation flows freely, with numerous exclamations and colorful language. Although her HBO miniseries titled “The Regime,” where she portrayed a lisping dictator, debuted in March, it has been a year since she’s been in front of a camera. Currently, she is actively supporting the release of “Lee.” Later on, she is scheduled to collaborate with her “Mildred Pierce” director Todd Haynes for a limited series based on Hernan Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Trust,” and star in an A24 drama series for Hulu titled “The Spot.

It’s understandable if one might assume that Winslet is always busy, given her consistent work since the mid-1990s. Her career took off with Peter Jackson’s film “Heavenly Creatures,” followed by “Sense and Sensibility” and of course, “Titanic.

Lee not only collaborates with Kuras during the 20th anniversary celebration of “Eternal Sunshine” – a fantastical tale about a man trying to erase his ex-lover’s memory – but also finds opportunities to delve into themes that have been central in her films, ranging from Revolutionary Road to Ammonite. These include the complexities of women, their aspirations, and issues surrounding their physical autonomy.

According to Kuras, Kate is quite daring and she shares a similar perspective with Lee Miller in terms of empathy for women’s struggles. He adds that Kate delves into hidden aspects, much as Lee Miller did when scrutinizing the background.

Winslet firmly believed that Miller’s identity should not be confined to being merely a model or muse for men. Instead, she aimed to showcase Miller as a trailblazer in a field dominated by males, and someone who used her work to shed light on injustice. As Winslet stated, “People continue to label her as the former model and muse of Man Ray, which was just a brief moment in her life. I felt very passionately that we should focus on the decade that, if she were alive today, would have been the one she considered most defining.

Lee experienced her debut as a narrative feature producer as well. Alongside figuring out “how on earth I was going to portray her,” she also managed the “challenging financial aspects.” She shared living quarters with fellow producer Kate Solomon, who stepped in when the emotional burden of playing Miller became overwhelming – this included scenes set in concentration camps or Hitler’s apartment, reenactments of Miller’s renowned self-portrait, posed nude in the genocidal dictator’s bathtub.

Kate Winslet openly discusses the challenges of being a woman in Hollywood’s spotlight, particularly the body-shaming she experienced following the release of Titanic when she was in her twenties. However, her candidness about her body and how she portrays it onscreen also reflects a sense of liberation in the film Lee. In one scene, Miller is seen comfortably bare-chested alongside her friends, embodying pre-war tranquility. Winslet aimed to depict the softest version of herself in the movie, yet emphasizes that Lee is never shown naked in a sexual context. When someone on set advised her to pull her stomach in and sit upright, she responded, “You think I’m not aware you can see that? I just went, ‘I’m good as I am.’

She dislikes being called “brave” when it’s used to describe women who don’t wear makeup or feel comfortable in their skin. Instead, she emphasizes that she is not a woman who has taken extraordinary actions like fighting for justice or living in war-torn regions. Rather, she is simply pursuing a job that she finds meaningful. Her role involves blurring the boundaries between cast and crew, which is how she initially connected with Kuras during their work on Eternal Sunshine.

During those times, there were significantly fewer women on film sets. As a result, Winslet found it natural to be drawn to Kuras since they were both executing the unconventional, sometimes spontaneous ideas of director Michel Gondry. One such idea was setting up a bed on a snowy beach in Montauk for the movie’s most memorable image. The film, Eternal Sunshine, remains a significant exploration of romantic themes, so much so that Ariana Grande named her latest album after it. Winslet expresses surprise when asked about Grande’s age at the time the film was released. O’Connor also lists it among his favorites.

Eternal Sunshine, it seems, is uniquely touching for young folks navigating their lives and finding meaning, as Winslet puts it.

Over the years, Kuras and Winslet maintained their connection; they even shared a memorable Thanksgiving gathering filled with stars like Daniel Day-Lewis, Rebecca Miller, and Brigitte Lacombe, as Kuras recalled. In Lee’s movie, Winslet recognized a promising chance for her friend who, much like Miller, had dedicated her life to storytelling through visual means. “Ellen and I, and anyone who grew up in that world,” Winslet explained, “it’s a very particular kind of close-knit group, an exclusive circle of filmmakers who have endured the toughest challenges in the industry.” She added, “If you have that visual storytelling gene in your film DNA, it stays with you forever.

As a passionate movie enthusiast, I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with some remarkable female directors, like Jane Campion and Nancy Meyers, but it’s true that many of my iconic roles have been directed by men. However, I don’t think the gender of the director affects how they see me—I’ve always strived to portray women who embody realness on screen. What truly matters to me is the opportunity to keep expressing myself within this industry, whether it’s securing funding for an independent film or taking on roles in critically acclaimed series like ‘Mare of Easttown,’ for which I was honored with an Emmy.

She shares an instance where she recently displayed a photograph of the modest house she resided in as a child to her 10-year-old son. Given his perception of his mother as a renowned actress (Oscar-winning in his mind), he struggled to comprehend what he was observing or that multiple individuals once inhabited it. This tale underscores why she never takes anything for granted. “Having work and being accepted back into the industry is the most precious blessing I have,” she admits, a sentiment she doesn’t take lightly. However, humor is one of her defining traits. As her co-star O’Connor puts it, “She’s like an older sister who watches over me, always checking in on my wellbeing. She maintains a youthful spirit, and that playfulness makes collaborating with her truly enjoyable.

Case in point: Winslet’s story of how she first became acquainted with Miller’s work. In a famous photograph, Miller’s subject bends forward, her rear end forming an almost abstract shape in the frame. Friends often sent Winslet cards with that very photograph, a winky allusion to her own body. “The number of times I’ve been sent that—specifically that image, assuming that my butt reminds them of that butt,” she laughs, her voice swelling in volume. “I’m very proud. I enjoy that about myself.”

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2024-09-12 15:07