Kate Winslet just revealed how she battled stereotypes as she worked on bringing her film, Lee, to life for the screen.

As the famous Titanic actress spoke to PEOPLE, detailing her journey over obtaining financing for the recently released movie, which revolves around the story of the outspoken model-turned-war photographer Lee Miller, she recalled, “I came up against men who would say to me, ‘Why should I like this woman?’ I mean, just ridiculous things.”

The actress who juggled duties of being the lead actress as well as the producer for Lee and kept working on it for a decade, admitted that sometimes, she used to think like, “‘Oh my God, how is this ever going to happen? How am I going to keep going?’”

“I swear I could feel Lee pulling the levers, going, ‘Come on, come on,’” Winslet said of her passion for executing the project, detailing how the famous photographer “became so much in her 30s, her 40s and beyond… That energy she had and the ability she had to live life full-throttle on her terms, to never accept no for an answer and to keep her foot on the gas—I was guided by that.”