Kate Winslet has provided an explanation for why she believes that model and war photographer Lee Miller captured her infamous picture in Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s bathtub.
Winslet, who is 48 years old, plays the role of Miller in her new film Lee. In order to prepare for the film, which has been a passion project for her and has taken almost a decade to complete, she consulted with the late photojournalist’s son to understand the character better.
Miller took the picture in Hitler’s bathroom on the same day that the Fuhrer and his family died as the Allies closed in on them at the end of the Second World War. In the picture, the model is seen sitting in the tub soaping her shoulder, with a portrait of Hitler visible in the background, and a pair of dirty boots on the mat next to her.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Winslet shared, “Listen, at that stage of things they had not changed their clothes for six weeks. They hadn’t touched hot water for six weeks, ok? This is true.”
The Oscar-winning actor explained that Miller had entered the horrors of the Holocaust as she arrived at the Dachau concentration camp to “bear witness” to the atrocities. Miller then proceeded to Munich, knowing the address of Hitler’s apartment in Prinzregentenplatz.
Winslet added, “There was a guy on the door keeping guard. Lee using her wiles would have bribed him with a carton of cigarettes or half a bottle of brandy. She was very, very good at finding the things that she really needed to keep her going.” Upon entering the apartment, she discovered “an entire regiment in there having a party”.
Winslet also mentioned, “Then they discovered there was a bathroom. There are many photographs of other people using that bathroom – soldiers, GIs having a shave.” She highlighted the situation, saying, “I myself can perfectly well see how as a woman in that situation where she hadn’t had any clean knickers for six weeks, can you imagine turning that tap on and going ‘Ah it’s hot water?’ I think there was something in her that thought it would be logical to take a bath.”
Additionally, Winslet said that the team concluded that Miller would have realized at that moment, “This is a photograph that no one else is going to get, or even think or even dare to take.” She praised the photographer’s bravery, stating, “Lee had that in her, she was a risk taker. She really was. She took chances.”
