She herself had given up. After more than 20 years of career in Hollywood —“just hearing the number makes me feel exhausted,” she says with a laugh—, dedicated to fighting against the lack of opportunities and the clichés of race and gender, the possibility of hearing her name as one of the essential ones in the pools to be nominated as best actress at the next Oscars never ceases to surprise her. At the moment she is already on the final list of candidates for the Golden Globes, for best actress in a drama. “I think that in some way I had already assumed that I would never have the opportunity to play a character like this. Or, at least, maybe until the end of my career, because of the different inequalities that exist in Hollywood. So I am very excited to be able to have this opportunity now,” confesses Greta Lee (Los Angeles, 40 years old), the protagonist of one of the most acclaimed films of the year, on the other end of the phone. Past lives.
Surprise also dynamites the existence of Nora, her character in the debut film by director Celine Song, which tells the story of the reunion on the streets of New York between an aspiring playwright and a childhood friend from her native South Korea. A twist on the foundations of romantic comedy in the vein of classics such as Before dawn The film highlights themes such as the sense of identity and the culture shock experienced by any migrant. A circumstance that Lee, whose parents moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, knows first-hand. “I had to appeal to that essence of what it means to live between two cultures, between two languages, between two such different worlds. What does it feel like for anyone who has moved away from home in search of a different life and to be able to fulfil their dreams,” recalls the actress.
That crossroads between opposing realities has also been a challenge for her, finding herself trapped, for example, between the different conventions of beauty from the East and the West. “I was always the opposite of what was considered ideal: whether it was the colour of my skin, whether it was the freckles on my face… I can point to many painful things that were said that were not in line with that supposed ideal. That is why I am so hopeful to see how times are changing.”
Lee herself says she is proof of this transformation, acting as the face of Loewe’s new unisex fragrance, Aire Anthesis, part of the Botanical Rainbow collection. “I was thrilled that the brand wanted to show my freckles. Not wearing any makeup was quite radical for me. At first I felt very exposed, naked… but also very proud,” she continues, “at this point in my life, I am happy to finally be able to nestle in my own skin.”
If the firm’s latest campaign – in which she shares the lead role with the Spanish actress Úrsula Corberó and the actor Stéphane Bak – claims the symbiotic connection with the natural world, Greta Lee materializes that link on a daily basis. Far from letting herself be imbued by the glamor Hollywood’s dazzling actress, known for being a scene-stealer in series like Girls, Russian Doll either The Morning Show, She lives with her husband and two children on a former goat ranch in a rural neighborhood east of the city. She calls the natural environment “essential” to their lives. “I’m kind of a crazy farmer and gardener. I love replanting native species, and even though we’re dealing with a feral pig problem right now, I feel lucky to have flora and fauna so integrated into my daily life.”
Precisely because of this “pure happiness” that he says he has been experiencing these months, Lee refuses to give in to the growing expectation that exists regarding his presence as a protagonist in the imminent awards season that is approaching. The success of Past Lives It is one more stone in the new path that films with a vocation for diversity and inclusion —both in front of and behind the cameras— are slowly paving in the industry, but there is no room for complacency: “We must actively fight to ensure that there will continue to be opportunities for filmmakers and casts like these.” The two decades of work that both critics and academics used to overlook prevent him from taking for granted anything that is to come on the horizon. “I never expected that these kinds of things would happen to me. In some way I had already said goodbye to this dream and had found peace in the kind of career I could have, so I will embrace everything that happens. That, for example, the public in Madrid is watching Past Lives It’s already a dream come true.” Just in case, and given the predictions about her future accepting awards, it’s better that no one wakes Greta Lee up yet.
