Kate Winslet says she was told to hide her "belly rolls" while shooting Lee

In the interview with Harper's Bazaar UK, released on August 7, 2024, Kate Winslet revealed that she faced instances of body shaming and scrutiny at one of her movie sets. She shared that one of the crew members of her upcoming movie, Lee, had something to say about her body, and her "belly roles" specifically.

In the upcoming movie, the actress plays the titular role of World War II journalist and photographer Lee Miller.

British actress Kate Winslet at the Munich Film Festival (Photo by Felix Hörhager/picture alliance via Getty Images)

In the interview, Kate Winslet mentioned that in one of the scenes, where her character is dressed in a bathing suit, one of the crew members suggested she sit up straight, apparently in an attempt to avoid capturing the actor’s “belly roles.” She said:

“There’s a bit where Lee’s sitting on a bench in a bikini. And one of the crew came up between takes and said: ‘You might want to sit up straighter.’ So you can’t see my belly rolls? Not on your life! It was deliberate, you know?”

The actress was then asked whether she was okay with looking “less-than-perfect” on screen. For context, in Lee, Winslet’s war journalist persona is much more de-glammed and toned down than most of her other high-profile roles. Kate Winslet stated that contrary to expectations, looking “less than perfect” felt perfect for her. She revealed:

“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 made a mention of her wrinkles, and how they are a sign of comfort in one’s own skin, rather than something that needs to be fixed. She shared:

“I think people know better than to say, ‘You might wanna do something about those wrinkles. I’m more comfortable in myself as each year passes. It enables me to allow the opinions of others to evaporate.”

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Kate Winslet has spoken up about her experience on the set of Lee earlier

In an interview with Vogue in September 2023, Winslet spoke up about a few more experiences on the set of Lee. The actor has a nude scene in the film and had reportedly stopped exercising before the filming for authenticity.

Winslet was proud of allowing her body to be seen on screen at its softest, and not the usual airbrushed perfection one expects from Hollywood.

“I had to be really f*cking brave about letting my body be its softest version of itself and not hiding from that. And believe me, people amongst our own team would say, ‘You might just want to sit up a bit.’ And I’d go, ‘Why? [Because of] the bit of flesh you can see? No, that’s the way it’s going to be!’” she added at the time.

The upcoming drama, directed by Ellen Kuras, is an adaptation of the 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose. The film follows the fascinating life of model turned war journalist and photographer, Lee Miller, played by Kate Winslet.

It also features many other high-profile names, including Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noémie Merlant, Josh O'Connor, Marion Cotillard, and Alexander Skarsgård.

The movie reportedly took eight years to make and was affected by funding issues, resulting in the producer and lead actor Kate Winslet having to pay the cast and crew salaries from her own pockets, for two weeks.

Lee premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It will be released in the United Kingdom on 13 September 2024.