Greta Lee is looking back on one of the more awkward moments from her journey to landing Past Lives, being mistaken for filmmaker Greta Gerwig during the film’s casting process.
Speaking on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, the actress opened up about the long and frustrating road to securing the lead role in Celine Song’s Oscar-nominated drama, including what she described as a “publicly humiliating experience” involving former producer Scott Rudin and Barbie director Greta Gerwig.
“I think enough time has passed now that I can tell the story,” Lee said, joking that she’s ready to share more about “the murders I’ve committed” to land the role of Nora.
Lee explained that she initially hesitated to audition for Past Lives because she was intimidated by the idea of speaking Korean onscreen.
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“That wasn’t something I was looking for,” she said.
After eventually submitting a tape, she was told she did not get the role because she was considered “too old” opposite a younger Korean male actor attached to the project at the time.
“No, it really was such a messy ride. And it happens a lot with casting … You find out, like, oh, I was not only the second choice, I was the 15th choice or whatever it is,” Lee said. “But in this case, I really was told by the universe several times that this was not going to be my job, and at a certain point, it just became so absurd and insulting.”
A year later, the project resurfaced — along with an unexpected misunderstanding. Lee recalled receiving a voicemail from Rudin’s office inviting her to lunch at New York’s Cafe Cluny, leading her to believe she had finally landed the role.
“I thought I got ‘Past Lives’ because I thought, Oh my god, this is amazing. He wants to meet me at Cafe Cluny to tell me that I got this job,” Lee said.
But after replaying the message with her agents, they realized the invitation was actually intended for Greta Gerwig.
“I listened to the message again and again, and I played it — I sent it to my agents, and they played it, and we realized collectively that the message was actually for Greta Gerwig,” she recalled.
Lee described the mix-up as “such a publicly humiliating experience,” adding that by that point she was emotionally exhausted from the casting process.
“I really thought, like, please leave me alone with this job. I get it. I’m too old, and I’m too American or whatever,” she said.
Conan O’Brien responded with a joke that inspired the moment’s headline-worthy punchline: “Yeah, and you’re no Greta Gerwig. You’re the wrong Greta.”
Despite the setbacks, Lee ultimately landed the role in Past Lives, which became one of 2023’s most acclaimed films and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
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As for Gerwig, Lee said the filmmaker had no memory of what the original meeting with Rudin had been about.
“[It was] for something completely — who knows what that was for? I don’t know,” Lee said. “I’ve told her now since, and she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have no idea.’”
Lee next stars in Netflix’s The Last House and the indie drama Late Fame alongside Willem Dafoe.
