Greta Lee: Famous and Unfamous

Greta Lee is one of three women with their own American Vogue covers this month for Anna Wintour’s Vogue World issue. As I mentioned in the Nicole Kidman post earlier today, Vogue World is a huge priority for Anna, she’s trying to make it as influential as the Met Gala, and it’s one of the reasons she stepped down as EIC of American Vogue (even though she probably still has final, final say). 

Vogue World is happening in Hollywood on October 26 (after New York, London, and Paris in previous years) and Anna has been trying to get as much celebrity participation as possible for her big event. You’ll recall, she sidled up to BTS’s V this summer in the hopes that he and the other members could make an appearance. 

Not that actresses aren’t always covering Vogue but Anna can make an even stronger argument for it with the November issue because, well, the theme is Hollywood. Which makes this such a f-cking score for Greta. She has a Hollywood blockbuster coming out this week – Tron: Ares opens on Friday. Sarah’s review is coming soon and I’ve seen it too. This is a fun movie, she is so fun in it, and it’s also really fun to see her flexing her range, from television series to art house films to big budget sequels. But not at the expense of the critically acclaimed films, like Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, which also releases this month. 

And, of course, Greta is just coming off being named Dior ambassador, the house’s first appointment since Jonathan Anderson took over as creative director. Two years after c-ntifying the internet with her performance in Past Lives, with its attendant award season run, Greta is famous. But she is also unfamous. As she says in her Vogue interview about how she’s processing her own celebrity: 

“It’s a choice. If you don’t buy into it, it leaves you alone. And that’s key to doing my job. The more isolated you get, the more out of touch you are.”

Fame has, indeed, for the most part, left her alone. I can barely remember what her husband’s name is and what he looks like. I don’t give a sh-t about her personal life. They have two sons and nobody has noticed. Nobody knows what their names are either. Greta must have friends, and some of them are probably famous too, but I don’t care about who they are, what squad she’s part of. All I want to do is watch Greta at work and see what she’s wearing when she’s promoting her work, and look at her sickeningly gorgeous face, goddamn it howwwww…. 

Flip through this carousel and try not to be overcome by that skin, that jawline, the cheekbones, THE GRETA. 

Did I mention I interviewed her two weeks ago? Sat three feet away from her, stared at that full-body ridiculousness for several minutes, watched her laugh and make fun of herself and seduce me. She wasn’t trying to seduce me but it happened anyway. She is so beautiful and funny and smart and it f-cked me up. That we had to wait this long to appreciate her.

Greta talks in Vogue about not having role models, other Asian American talent to relate to, bond with, be inspired by. Now that she’s in this position, she intends to keep the door open. Greta will be writing and directing the film adaptation of The Eyes Are the Best Part, based on Monica Kim’s novel. And she says that in casting the lead role, which will be filled by an Asian American actor, “It is important for me to give someone the opportunity that I didn’t have, for several decades. If I don’t—as I’ve experienced firsthand—it’s just not happening.”

A quick note on The Eyes Are the Best Part, it’s a body horror satire but the title is recognisable to many of us whose families are from East Asia. And it’s related to fish. Most Chinese people I know, as kids, would fight over fish eyes at dinner. They are the best part! 

But the biggest takeaway from this interview about Greta is how breathtakingly smart she is. It jumps out hard in this quote where she’s relating to Jonathan Anderson’s takeover at Dior to her own experience: 

“It’s so exciting that he is now tasked with reinventing and putting his stamp on a preexisting template. And I get that—that’s what I feel like I have to do all the time.”

The layers here! On such an economy of words! 

Speaking of layers, the layers in this cover photo – shirt, and jacket on jacket, and pants and styled like she hasn’t been styled with her hair undone and barely-there makeup (I can confirm, she doesn’t have to wear much), Greta Lee please don’t stop doing what you’re doing to us even though you’re just doing you. 

Click here for more of Greta in Vogue. 

Also attached - Greta at the LA premiere of Tron: Ares on Monday.