Mildred Pierce

Character: Mildred Pierce
Created by: Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Written by: Todd Haynes, Jon Raymond
Produced by: Todd Haynes, Christine Vachon, John Wells, Pamela Koffler, Ilene S. Landress
Other cast: Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, Melissa Leo
Premiere date: March 27, 2011
Episodes: Appeared in all episodes
Genre: Drama
Running time: 336 minutes

Glendale, California, 1931: Mildred Pierce, a young mother with a talent for baking, is left a "grass widow" after throwing her husband, Bert, out of the house. Forced to hunt for work to support herself and her two young daughters, 11-year-old Veda and seven-year-old Ray, Mildred visits an employment agency, only to encounter job opportunities she feels are beneath her. Amidst her job search, she receives dating advice from her friend and neighbor, Lucy Gessler, and begins an unexpected affair with an ex-business partner of her husband's, Wally Burgan. When Mildred receives a call from the agency regarding an opening as a housekeeper to a wealthy socialite, she reluctantly agrees to meet with her. After cutting the acerbic interview short, Mildred seeks refuge at a local diner, Cristofor's Café, where fate, and a waitress named Ida, will play a role in shaping her future.

0790.jpg mildred-pierce_trailer-captures_006.jpg 0236.jpg mildred-pierce_making-of_167.jpg mildred-pierce_on-the-set_apr-18-10_149.jpg

Taglines:

Having It All Would Cost Her Everything.

Trivia:

Director and screenwriter Todd Haynes decided that every scene should be from Mildred’s perspective, and so required Kate Winslet to be in every single scene of the five hour miniseries. Winslet has publicly stated that this was her hardest shoot (around 18 weeks on set) since Titanic (1997).

During the DVD commentary, director Todd Haynes mentions that while on the set of this movie, Kate Winslet told Guy Pearce that he had been one of her biggest crushes when she was a teenager in the UK and he had a role on the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours (1985).

Evan Rachel Wood is just 12 years younger than Kate Winslet, who plays her mother.

Kate Winslet had 66 different costume changes throughout the series.

The story takes place in Los Angeles, but was shot in New York, and because of an unusually chilly spring, palm trees on the set had to be kept from wilting by being heated in a greenhouse.

Lena Dunham was cast in a brief role as a nurse, but was fired and replaced on set.

Six-time Academy Award nominee (and one-time winner) Kate Winslet has the distinction of being nominated alongside two of her female co-stars. Mare Winningham for Georgia (1995) and Winslet for Sense and Sensibility (1995) competed for Best Supporting Actress 1995, while Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008) and Winslet for The Reader (2008) competed for Best Actress 2008. Neither won for the former and Winslet won the latter.

An adaptation of the 1941 novel of the same name by James M. Cain, which had previously been made into a movie, Mildred Pierce (1945).

Mildred Pierce is a TV drama mini-series that aired in 2011 and is a remake of the 1945 film of the same name. In the mini-series, Kate Winslet stars as Mildred Pierce, a young woman whom begins an affair with wealthy playboy Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce) following her divorce. As Mildred opens a restaurant, Mildred’s estranged evil, selfish and manipulative daughter Veda (Evan Rachel Wood) achieves fame as a singer and Mildred sets out to reconcile with Veda unaware Veda intends to sucker punch her which leaves Mildred broken hearted.

5 years after the mini-series aired on American television, Evan Rachel Wood was cast as Dolores Abernethy in HBO’s Westworld (2016) (TV Series) which was based on the 1973 film of the same name. The mini-series was a remake of the 1941 film adaptation of the James M. Cain novel.

Character Quotes:

not available