August 7th 2024.
Kate Winslet stood her ground when it came to her appearance on the big screen. The Hollywood star shared that she takes pride in looking less-than-perfect onscreen, even after being asked to sit straighter in order to hide her belly rolls. The 48-year-old British actor is set to portray photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller in a biopic about her extraordinary life later this year. The film, directed by debut feature director Ellen Kuras, follows a pivotal decade in the life of the American war correspondent who lived from 1907 to 1977.
Based on true events, the movie showcases Lee's journey as she ends her modeling career and takes up a camera to capture the monumental events of World War Two for Vogue magazine. In a recent interview with Harper's Bazaar, Kate opened up about a surprising moment on set. She shared that there was a scene where Lee is sitting on a bench in a bikini and one of the crew members came up between takes and suggested she sit up straighter. However, Kate refused and replied, "So you can't see my belly rolls? Not on your life! It was deliberate, you know?"
When asked if she minds looking less-than-perfect on screen, Kate responded, "The opposite. I take pride in it because it is my life on my face, and that matters. It wouldn't occur to me to cover that up." She also shared that she has a similar approach to her naturally aging face and doesn't care about other people's opinions. Kate hopes to be a role model for a small pocket of people, just as she has found inspiration in many wonderful older actresses.
The actor also hopes that the biopic will reclaim Lee's story and remove it from the male gaze for younger generations. "Post-#MeToo, we have a much greater perspective on what women in the public eye had to put up with. My hope is that, at the very least, the film will show people who Lee really was and what she went through," she explained. Kate has been subjected to scrutiny over her appearance for a long time, starting from her role as Rose in Titanic opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in 1997.
In the iconic film, Rose and Jack are floating on a door in the ocean, but ultimately, there is not enough space for the two of them, and Jack sacrifices himself to save Rose. Reflecting on the fan reaction afterward, Kate shared that there was some toxic discourse blaming her weight for the tragic outcome. She said in a podcast, "Apparently I was too fat. Isn't it awful? Why were they so mean to me? They were so mean. I wasn't even f**king fat." Looking back, she wishes she had used her voice in a different way. "I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, 'Don't you dare treat me like this. I'm a young woman, my body is changing, I'm figuring it out, I'm deeply insecure, I'm terrified, don't make this any harder than it already is,'" she shared.
The director of Titanic, James Cameron, recently admitted that Kate almost lost out on the role of Rose because she had previously only appeared in period dramas. "It seemed like lazy casting. But then wiser heads prevailed, and I could see what everybody was talking about. She's very alive. She comes into a room with a great deal of confidence, and she's got that spark of life," he said in an interview with Variety.
The biopic of Lee Miller, titled "Lee," is set to release in UK cinemas on September 13. If you have any celebrity stories, videos, or pictures, feel free to reach out to our entertainment team at The Agency by emailing us, calling us, or visiting our Submit Stuff page. We would love to hear from you.
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