Return to Hollywood for Marion Cotillard. Five years after Assassin’s Creed, the French star finds a big American production.

Man Ray’s muse

Marion Cotillard, the most Holliwoodian of our French actresses, will therefore join Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Josh O’Connor in “Lee”, a film which will tell the real life of war photographer Lee Miller. Indeed, the mad and tragic life of American Lee Miller, photographer, model, war correspondent as well as muse (and mistress) of Man Ray born in 1907 was well worth a biopic. This will now be done as Ellen Kuras, Oscar-nominated cinematographer for her documentary The Betrayal-Nerakhoon (2008), will shoot a film next year about this celebrated artist at the Jeu de Paume. Kate Winslet will play Lee Miller alongside Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Josh O’Connor (The Crown, Only Earth) and Andrea Riseborough (ZeroZeroZero).

A friend of Picasso

Lee Miller began her career as a model in New York City. Legend has it that she was “discovered” by businessman and media mogul Condé (Montrose) Nast, who allegedly saved her from being hit by a car and then propelled her onto the covers of Vogue . But the supermodel fled to Paris to study photography (and the solarization process) with Man Ray. She will be his collaborator, his muse and his lover for several years, will befriend Eluard, Picasso, Cocteau …, before returning to New York and opening her own studio, then marrying the man from business Aziz Eloui Bey and discover Egypt. In 1942, she became war correspondent for Vogue UK and after the allies landed in Normandy, traveled throughout France, covered the liberation of Saint-Malo, that of Paris and finally the appalling discovery of the concentration camps of Dachau and Buchenwald. Lee Miller would suffer from depression often throughout his Thousand Lives. In this film, Marion Cotillard will play Solange D’Ayen, director of French “Vogue” and close to the famous photographer. Jude Law will slip into the skin of Roland Penrose, the great love of Lee Miller. As for Josh O’Connor, he will lend his features to their son, Anthony Penrose.