Why Kate Winslet’s “Lee” Took 8 Years to Make: Here’s the Backstory
- Kate Winslet never gave up despite all the challenges that came her way in making Lee.
- She was sure of her vision and her abilities as a producer to make the movie a reality.
- From financing troubles to patronizing male executives, Winslet handled it all with grace.
The British actress is known to stop at nothing to get what she wants. Kate Winslet’s battle to bring the iconic British Vogue journalist Lee Miller’s life to the big screen has been riveting, to say the least. The actress has fought tooth and nail to make the project come to life, and with the recent Golden Globe nods, we’d say it was absolutely worth it.
Winslet plays the titular character Lee who is assigned an international project that takes her across the countrylines. The story has been adapted from the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller along with other archival data available from that time. Winslet’s gritty portrayal of the hard-working journalist has been a treat to watch on screen. But the work she put in behind the scenes has also been nothing short of extraordinary.
How did Kate Winslet think of making Lee?
Interestingly, the Titanic actress saw a table at her house that had a unique connection to Lee Miller and her lover Roland Penrose. Kate Winslet was enchanted with the idea of making a movie on Lee Miller because of the stubbornness and dedication they shared for their respective work.
She shared with Variety an anecdote that would come to change the course of her next few years.
Food and family have always been a very important part of my life. It’s how I grew up and how we are raising our children. [The table] used to be in the holiday home of the Penrose family. Lee Miller and Roland Penrose were lovers and they would spend weeks across wonderful summers with their surrealist friends and creative collaborators. This was the table where they would eat. I sat at it and thought: ‘Lee Miller, I wonder why nobody has made a film about her.’ I immediately tried to look into the rights.
Since then, it became her sole focus to make Lee’s story come to life on the big screen and give every woman a role model to look up to. As a journalist and subsequent war correspondent, Lee faced several troublesome situations, but neither could be tough enough to stop her in her tracks or make her turn back around.
Kate Winslet struggled to gather a crew
When the idea of making a movie on the legendary war correspondent Lee Miller struck Winslet, she was not one to let go of the same very easily. She decided to produce the movie and bring it to the big screens for everyone to witness. After all, stories of greatly determined women need to be heard loud and clear, sending a message of what women are capable of to the entire world.
However, Winslet realized early on that this would be no walk in the park. To start with, she struggled to assemble a crew for herself and a team that believed in the work Lee did. She told Variety,
We didn’t have anything handed to us on a plate. I did come up against people, forgive me – men – who just didn’t understand what this film was. It’s about a woman who was challenged, who doesn’t look a pretty picture for most of the film, who was getting down and dirty with life. I did have a potential financier say to me: ‘So, why should I like this woman?’ Okay, so not you then.
She goes on to add how she didn’t want anyone working on the movie who didn’t understand the crux of her story and echo the same bravado as their titular character.
What slowed down production for Lee?
Just as Lee went from being a model to being a dedicated journalist determined to unearth the truth, Winslet shifted from acting to producing to ensure her vision for the project aligned with the final outcome. Director Ellen Kuras had also read the biography of Lee and was sure of Winslet’s ability to play the role on screen. When the duo united, they knew they had something precious in their hands.
The project was announced back in 2015 with Winslet attached as the lead. However, it was in 2020 that the real work began on the movie with the script and direction being finalized. Lee’s son also cooperated and gave the crew access to his mother’s work and archives.
Winslet’s major challenges began when she was looking for funding for the movies. Male executives just couldn’t understand the focal point of the movie which was a woman who was determined to rise above all challenges.
The men who think you want and need their help are unbelievably outraging. I’ve even had a director say to me: ‘Listen, you do my film and I’ll get your little Lee funded…’ Little!
Comments like these infuriated Winslet but didn’t slow her down. She was strong-willed in her resolve to make the movie a reality. She even invested her personal money to ensure production didn’t halt.
Kate Winslet faced troubles of Strikes, Pandemic, and Theatrical Licenses
While filming scenes in Croatia, Winslet suffered a fall and injured her back. Despite the same, she continued filming and didn’t stop production. Many would think this would cause a halt in the schedule but Winslet persevered.
The real challenges came in the form of the writers’ strike, the deadly pandemic, and their eventual struggle to gain a proper license for theatrical release. In the end, it all became worth it as she saw the final outcome. She shared,
I still can’t believe I don’t have to keep trying to make this film – I was trying to do it for such a long time. Now, I have this overwhelming feeling of pride, which is so important [to acknowledge]. We forget to stop and say: ‘I am really proud of myself.’ Especially as women.
No matter what challenges the actress faced in about 8 years, she managed to subdue them all to achieve her dream of bringing Lee’s story for everyone to witness and marvel at.
Lee is streaming on AppleTV.
