She had given up on herself. After a more than 20-year career in Hollywood – “Just hearing the number makes me feel exhausted,” she notes with a laugh – she is dedicated to fighting the lack of opportunity and the stereotypes of race and gender and the possibility of using her name As one of the main candidates for the Best Actress nomination at the next Oscars, she continues to surprise. She is currently on the final list of nominees for the Golden Globes for Best Drama Actress. “I think in some ways I had already assumed that I would never get the opportunity to play a character like that. Or at least until maybe the end of my career, because of the different inequalities that exist in Hollywood. That's why I'm very happy to be able to have this opportunity now,” admits Greta Lee (Los Angeles, 40 years old), the protagonist of one of the most acclaimed films of the year, Past Lives, on the other end of the telephone broadcast.
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The surprise also shakes up the existence of Nora, her character in director Celine Song's debut film, which chronicles the reunion on the streets of New York between an aspiring playwright and a childhood friend from her native South Korea. A reinterpretation of the basics of romantic comedy in the style of classics such as “Before Sunrise”, highlighting themes such as the sense of identity or the culture shock that every migrant experiences. A circumstance that Lee, whose parents moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, knows firsthand. “I had to appeal to the essence of what it means to live between two cultures, between two languages, between two very different worlds. “How does it feel for someone who has moved far from home in search of a different life and the fulfillment of their dreams?” recalls the actress.
Actress Greta Lee, star of “Past Lives.”
This intersection between opposing realities was also a challenge for her, as she found herself cornered, for example, between the different beauty conventions of the East and the West. “I was always the opposite of what was considered ideal: what if the color of my skin, what if the freckles on my face… I can point out a lot of painful things that they said didn't correspond to this supposed ideal. That’s why I’m so hopeful to see how times are changing.”
Lee herself claims to be reliable evidence of this transformation, serving as the image of Loewe's new unisex fragrance Aire Anthesis, part of the Botanical Rainbow collection. “I was thrilled that the brand wanted to show off my freckles. Wearing almost no makeup was something pretty radical for me. “At first I felt very exposed, naked… but also very proud,” and she continues: “At this moment in my life, I'm happy to finally be able to step into my own skin.”
Greta Lee in a still from “Past Lives with Teo Yoo.”
If the company's latest campaign – in which she shares the spotlight with Spaniard Úrsula Corberó and actor Stéphane Bak – restores the symbiotic connection with nature, Greta Lee makes this connection a reality every day. Far from being imbued with the glitzy glamor of Hollywood, the actress, known as a true “scene stealer” in series such as “Girls”, “Russian Doll” and “The Morning Show”, lives on one with her husband and two children old goat farm in a rural neighborhood east of the city. He describes the presence of the natural environment in their lives as “essential.” “I'm kind of a crazy farmer and gardener. “I love replanting native species and although we are currently dealing with a wild boar problem, I am glad that flora and fauna are so integrated into my daily life.”
Greta Lee is holding the Aire Anthesis fragrance by Perfumes Loewe, a juice created by the nose Núria Cruelles.
It is precisely because of the “pure happiness” he feels during these months that Lee refuses to give in to the growing expectations for his leading presence in the upcoming awards season. The success of Past Lives is another stone in the new path that films with a vocation for diversity and inclusion – both in front of and behind the camera – are gradually taking in the industry, but there is no reason for complacency: “This “We have to actively fight to ensure that such opportunities continue to exist for filmmakers and performers.” Overlooked by critics and scholars alike, two decades of work prevent him from taking for granted everything that lies on the horizon . “I never expected something like this to happen to me. In a way, I had already said goodbye to that dream and found peace in the kind of career I could have, so I'll embrace whatever happens. For example, that the public in Madrid sees Past Lives is already a dream come true.” Just in case, and given the predictions about her future price acceptance, it is better that Greta Lee is not woken up yet.