Parenthood has been very much on my mind while creating our eleventh print issue of Hollywood Authentic. Not only because my wife Daisy and I just welcomed the latest edition to our family – a baby boy, Gene – but because of the importance of parents in providing an environment for talent and artistry to thrive.
In shooting Kate Winslet as we returned to her hometown of Reading in the UK, it became increasingly apparent as we talked about her work and drive that her ability to find creative inspiration came from her mum and dad giving her the space and love to find it.
Kate Winslet photographed by Greg Williams
Although she’s always been vocal and transparent about her humble background, it might surprise people who assume she was born with privilege to see her revisit where she spent her formative years, and reflect on how little she had growing up as a child. While she may not have been afforded fancy classes or posh days out, she was rich in love, security and encouragement. Her parents, despite their limited means, instilled in her a passion for theatre and performance that took her away from Reading and all the way to the Oscars stage. It was humbling and inspiring for me to see her re-live her days treading the boards at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, recalling saving pennies on her bus fare and returning to her much-changed childhood home. And, as a parent herself, she is passing that inspiration onto her own children – having just directed her first film that is written by her son, Joe Anders.
Laura Dern tells a similar story when she looks back on growing up in Hollywood with two indie actor parents who had to leave her to go away and work, but showed her abundance in terms of integrity and inspiration. She can trace a path directly from her own diverse, explorative career to the artists her parents were during her childhood. It reminds me how important it is to inspire our children. As my artist parents did for my brother Olly, a painter and poet, and I.
And for that matter, how important it is that a magazine like Hollywood Authentic exists.
Unlike other magazines, we do not focus on fashion stories; we trade in artistic inspiration – whether that’s Lily James learning to give herself space away from her roles in order to arrive at projects refreshed, or writer/director Clint Bentley understanding that the movies he watched with his parents as a kid are the ones that inform his own art now. Also in this issue, award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell unpicks the value of having an artistic family in building his career, while Adeel Akhtar recognises that his work is fuelled by the smell of home and the silliness of his children.
I hope that in taking inspiration from artists and finding the stories behind their creativity that Hollywood Authentic inspires others, providing a space for new artists to grow.
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS Interview by JANE CROWTHER
The British actor has been working ferociously since her Cinderella breakout. Now, as she adds ‘producer’ to her resume, Lily James invites Greg Williams to the premiere of her first produced feature, Swiped, and considers what the experience has taught her as an actor and a person.
For Lily James’ next evolution she’s planning on becoming a sea siren. When Hollywood Authentic catches up with her she’s prepping for her role in submarine thriller Subversion on the Australian Gold Coast, getting ready for upcoming underwater stunts by learning breath- holding techniques. ‘So I can officially become a mermaid!’ she laughs. She may be joking, but the British actor has had a busy couple of years of transformation – from essaying Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy to a wrestling wife in The Iron Claw and dangling off mountains for the upcoming gender-flip reboot of Cliffhanger. And not just on screen, either: having established her production company, Parodos Productions, with partner Gala Gordon, James made the leap to producing her first feature film (as well as headlining) with Whitney Wolfe Herd biopic, Swiped. As she told Greg Williams when he captured her on the way to the film’s London premiere in September, the experience had truly changed her. ‘I’ve learnt so much through producing Swiped. I was building my production company at the same time, so from playing Whitney I was learning that entrepreneurial spirit, ambition, hustle and having a real mission.’
James is probably being modest. It’s clear she’s always had ambition and a mission since her days breaking through on Downton Abbey and Cinderella, which catapulted her to a prolific work output. Stepping up to produce seemed like the next logical step. ‘My partner, Gala, and I were so ferocious in our desire to explore every part of [Wolfe Herd’s] story. But one of the things I learned about producing is to accept the compromises. It’s such a collaboration, which is very powerful, and there are so many wins, but there are inevitably losses too, and everything feels so precious to me. There’s no way I could have done this film and not had at least the agency to be in those discussions, and involved in the edit bringing the story to life. It was very profound for me.
I’m going to love continuing to produce and growing in that – and I think I’ll love it even more when I’m not in it!’
Her bursting upcoming slate is full of both experiences. She recently executive-produced Cliffhanger, a remake of the 1993 Stallone actioner in which she plays a mountain climber alongside Pierce Brosnan as her father. For the shoot, she learnt to rock climb in Ibiza before hanging off precipices in the Dolomites during filming. ‘There’s a spiritual, meditative, slowing down of your mind while climbing,’ she enthuses. ‘I’m working in the edit now with [director] Jaume Collet-Serra, and I was very much involved in the script, the forming of my character, and the family dynamic in Cliffhanger. So it has been a big year of producing.’
Also in the pipeline: Angry Birds 3; playing a cult leader in Harmonia; a thriller with Riz Ahmed, Relay; and Takashi Miike’s Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, a sequel to Abel Ferrera’s classic. It was one of James’ favourite experiences on a film set and one that she nearly didn’t take. ‘I’d been in Costa Rica for six weeks – learning to surf and editing Swiped from the jungle. I didn’t want to come home. And then this job came along, and it was so far out, so wild and explicit and dangerous. I didn’t know if I was ready but I just threw myself into it and I loved losing myself. Takashi Miike works a bit like Clint Eastwood, in that you get one take, and then he moves on. I like multiple takes, exploring and trying different things and being sure we’ve got it. And I had to let go of all of that and lean in. It was magic and invigorating. I felt like every nerve ending was on fire. I was so present.’ She pauses and thinks for a moment. ‘When I was at drama school, there’s a beautiful naivety to the work, and you’re taught to fail. Be bold, be brave, be courageous. And if you fail, it’s probably going to be even more interesting. I think I’d lost that. I was reminded of how much better it is if you let go of the reins.’
I have a great clarity in what I believe in, how I show up at work, what I know I can contribute. But I’m still after the same thing, which is to lose yourself to a moment of work, opposite amazing actors, telling a story that triggers something inside you. Now I have such a heightened sense of time passing, and I just want to make sure that I’m showing up for something that is really meaningful
When she looks back at the young woman in Downton Abbey, what changes can she see now in approach and decision-making? ‘I have a great clarity in what I believe in, how I show up at work, what I know I can contribute. But I’m still after the same thing, which is to lose yourself to a moment of work, opposite amazing actors, telling a story that triggers something inside you. Now I have such a heightened sense of time passing, and I just want to make sure that I’m showing up for something that is really meaningful. The production company is a part of trying to find that agency and clarity. But I’m also trying to find a better work-life balance in terms of feeding all the parts of me – not just the actor.’
As an actor, James also understood the special scorn reserved for Wolfe Herd on social media and via the press. ‘I’m very sensitive,’ she admits. ‘Being an actor, being out there, you can’t help but absorb all these different energies and ideas, and what people project onto you. Having a way of disassociating from that is very important.’ To that end, she plans to spend more time singing/focusing on music (she’s been working with musician Ben Abraham), possibly directing and giving herself time away to creatively recharge. ‘At the moment, I’ve been waking up at 5am and watching the sunrise. I feel much more connected to who I am when I’m living in that rhythm. So I plan on exploring, travelling and seeing the world.’
Before she can exhale, though, she needs to master the breath-holding. ‘I love anything that stretches me and pushes me beyond my limits,’ she smiles. ‘But I’ve really begun to acknowledge how important it is to create better boundaries between yourself and the character. You have to let it go, and come back to yourself…’
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS Interview by JANE CROWTHER Swiped is available on Disney+ and Hulu now
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS Words by JANE CROWTHER
Hollywood Authentic follows Lily James on-set in LA of her first producing project – the biopic of Bumble founder and self-made billionaire Whitney Wolfe Herd – and to the premiere on hometown soil in London. James tells us about the challenge of playing her ‘absolute hero’.
‘I’ve always been hugely protective of the characters I play,’ Lily James tells Hollywood Authentic as she welcomes us into her trailer on the LA set of Swiped in early June 2024, her inaugural project where she leads the cast as well as produces. ‘But this is on a bigger scale.’
Exec-producing alongside her partner Gala Gordon and producers Sarah Shepherd, Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, Swiped tells the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s phenomenal rise as a co-founder of Tinder before leaving in 2014 to establish Bumble and becoming the first woman to take a company public at the age of 31. James’ Downton Abbey colleague Dan Stevens co-stars as Wolfe Herd’s business partner in the film which releases this week. Rachel Lee Goldenberg directs a script written by herself, Bill Parker and Kim Caramele the film tracks period of time at Tinder and then continues on as she goes onto build bumble becoming at the time the youngest women ever to take a company public. As a production team, the decision was made to use publicly available information to tell this story with a highly experienced research team. They never reached out to Whitney. James herself (seen below with acting coach Leigh Kilton-Smith) became obsessed with reading, listening, and watching everything she could about Wolfe Herd.
‘She was the youngest woman to ever take a company public,’ James says of the Wolfe Herd, transforming into her via blue contact lenses and her signature engaging voice. ‘This is based on her incredible journey to make the Internet safer for women and create a safe space where women can make the first move in their lives and in relationships.’
Wolfe Herd built Bumble as CEO and founder, taking the company public in 2021, stepping down in 2023 as a billionaire, trailblazer and innovator. She is something of an inspiration to James who describes her as ‘brilliant’ as she gets ready to film scenes in an office building dressed to look like Tinder HQ. James climbs onto a huge furry ‘E’ in her Wolfe Herd businesswear and loafers. ‘Her superpower is that she makes everyone around her feel safe and comfortable – and fall in love with her. Because she listens and is empathetic to her core. That’s what makes her a great leader and someone people want to follow and work with.’
James is spreading her own leadership wings with her producer hat on – alongside other projects she is developing under her company, Parodos – but is enjoying the challenge. ‘Every day genuinely feels like a fight to make sure that I’m fully happy with everything.’ Bowing at TIFF, Swiped premiered in James’ hometown of London on an overcast day in September where Greg Williams caught her dodging the rain in Soho on her way to the Mayfair Curzon. Like Wolfe Herd, James is enjoying the moments of being a female leader in a male-dominated industry…
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS Interview by JANE CROWTHER Swiped is available on Disney+ and Hulu now
