Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet is known for taking on roles that portray tough and complex women. And her latest film is no exception.

“Lee” is the true story of Lee Miller, a former model who fought her way to the front lines of World War II as a photojournalist for Vogue magazine.

Winslet was so effective in her portrayal that Miller’s son Antony Penrose was convinced Winslet was his late mother when he saw the film.

“I had this total … cognitive dissonance because I thought she was real,” he told 60 Minutes correspondent Cecilia Vega.

“It was so like her. And I thought, ‘How did they do that? She’s been dead for years. It’s a movie.’”

Winslet used a replica Rolleiflex camera to take real photos while starring in the film, recreating some of Lee Miller’s iconic images.

“It couldn’t just be a prop… I had to be familiar with it and comfortable with it. And to do that, I had to know what I was doing,” Winslet told Vega in an interview.

Winslet said she learned to use her “body as a tripod” and to hold her breath before taking a photo to keep the camera steady and not ruin the shot.

60 Minutes asked why this level of detail was so important to Winslet.

“Anyone who has worked with a Rolleiflex camera could watch this film. And if I breathe, they would know that’s not a photo that’s ever going to work,” she said.

“My job was to be as authentic to Lee as possible. So there’s no way I wouldn’t think about doing these things.”

Winslet and Vega looked together at one of Miller’s first photos from the Second World War: two models sitting in front of a bomb shelter in north London, wearing fire masks to protect themselves from incendiary bombs.

“Because she had this surrealist eye and a phenomenal fashion sense, she felt like, ‘Oh my God… cool glasses,'” Winslet said.

Winslet showed Vega her recreation of the image. Vega asked if she was thinking about Miller’s photo when she took the photo.

“Absolutely,” Winslet said. “Authenticity was very important, keeping the same angle that she was standing at… and finding the right height.”

Winslet didn’t stop at learning Miller’s approach to photography: she attended exhibitions, read manuscripts and pored over books about her work.

“It was just this immersive quality that I think allowed her to manifest the personality of Lee… and it was a wonderful, wonderful performance,” Penrose told Vega.

Winslet also told 60 Minutes that she has no plans to change her career and leave acting behind.

“It’s not about what people think or what other people’s opinions are. It’s about the work,” Winslet said. “I love acting… it gives me so much.”

The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Sarah Shafer Preacher.

Photos courtesy of Lee Miller Archives, England 2024