Kate Winslet was adamant that a female director help her tell Lee Miller’s story in her new biopic.
The Oscar winner takes the lead in the new movie Lee, which tells the story of the model-turned-photojournalist who became known for her photos from the frontline during World War II.
As well as appearing in the lead role, Kate also co-produced the film, with The Guardian quoting her as saying there was “no question that it would be a woman who would direct this film”, from the movie’s production notes.
She also told The Observer that she hopes that Lee can help reframe the late photographer’s story from versions that had previously been put forward by men, which focussed on portraying her as a “damaged woman”.
Kate offered: “She was not unlike a lot of people who returned from the war, who had PTSD, and couldn’t talk about what happened.”
The Titanic star also claimed that Lee took years to finally get made, as “patronising” male execs dismissed the project as “a woman’s story”.
Ellen Kuras makes her feature-length directorial debut at the helm of Lee, having previously collaborated with Kate as a cinematographer on films like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and A Little Chaos.
Her past directing work includes the Emmy-winning documentaries Joan (about the naturalist Jane Goodall) and The Betrayal – Nerakhoon, the latter of which also earned her an Oscar nomination.
Lee boasts an impressive cast that also includes Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Josh O’Connor, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire star Noémie Merlant.
The film hits cinemas on Friday 13 September.