Greta Lee Says Playing a Larger-Than-Life Actress in “Late Fame” Hit Close to Home: ‘I Wanted to Be Liza Minnelli’ (Exclusive)
Greta Lee Says Playing a Larger-Than-Life Actress in “Late Fame” Hit Close to Home: ‘I Wanted to Be Liza Minnelli’ (Exclusive)
Rachel RaposasFri, August 7, 2026 at 6:01 PM UTC
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Greta Lee as Gloria in Late Fame.Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Magnolia Pictures -
Greta Lee stars in Late Fame as the enigmatic actress Gloria, distinguished by her glamorous style and unapologetic attitude
Lee tells PEOPLE her character reflects icons like Liza Minnelli and Marlene Dietrich, who she idolized growing up
Late Fame is in theaters on Aug. 7
Greta Lee is dishing on her special connection to her Late Fame character.
The Past Lives actress, 43, spoke with PEOPLE ahead of the release of her upcoming film Late Fame, in which she plays the enigmatic and alluring actress Gloria, whose style, disposition and demeanor are reminiscent of the New York creative scene of years past.
Lee tells PEOPLE that stepping into Gloria’s shoes was personally significant to her, as the character so closely resembles the icons of the industry that she’s looked up to.
“For me, the idea of an actress is like [a] diva. That’s what I wanted — I wanted to be Liza Minnelli, I wanted to be Marlene Dietrich,” she says. “I wanted to be one of those gals. And so, Gloria, she is absolutely a twin flame to these women, but in a world where nobody gives a s---.”
Gloria’s carefree attitude is one of Lee’s favorite things about her, she says. There’s “so much strength” in someone who is “completely marching to her own tune” by sporting the hair, makeup and fashion that feels right to her, and not what’s more or less socially expected.
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“I also appreciated that the chance to do a bigger kind of performance,” the Morning Show Emmy nominee says.
Lee’s Gloria is one of a group of young creatives living in New York, brought together by poet Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe) as they discover the writer’s lost work. The film, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival in August 2025, also stars Jake Lacy, Graham Campbell, Clark Johnson and Welker White.
The cast of Late Fame.Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Magnolia Pictures
When she was 40, Lee shot to superstardom with Past Lives in 2023. Following the success of the romantic drama film, Lee realized she really “needed to do something completely different,” she says.
“There might be the assumption that this is a totally wild different swing for me,” Lee says of Late Fame, “but it’s actually closer to my roots and the beginning of my career and my stage roots.”
Late Fame is in theaters on Aug. 7.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
