Is Kate Winslet’s Character in The Regime Based on a Real Politician?

Kate Winslet recently made her unsettling debut as Chancellor Elena Vernham in HBO’s The Regime, but is her satirical politician modeled after any specific world leader?

The Regime’s Elena Vernham Has Shades of Vladimir Putin — But is Not Directly Inspired by Him

A collection of eccentricities that fall short of charming and a propensity toward germaphobia, cruelty, and propaganda have led many viewers to wonder whether Winslet’s Chancellor Elena Vernham is based on Vladimir Putin. While Putin counts among the collection of influences that make up Winslet’s fictional world leader, he’s not the primary target of the show’s satire. Much like The Regime’s predecessor, Veep, Elena’s lack of specific country or political alignment allows her to be a mirror by which to parody a variety of real-world politicians as the series tackles its story.

One moment of Putin-esque specificity comes in The Regime’s pilot when Elena sings an off-key rendition of “If You Leave Me Now”, a possible nod to Putin’s rendition of “Blueberry Hill” at a charity event in 2010. While this detail led some audience members to diagnose Elena Verna as a direct Putin parody, other politicians played an equally important role in the development of her character.   

Kate Winslet Embodies a Frankenstein’s Monster of Political Influences

From his time as a writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Onion News Network, The Regime’s creator and showrunner, Will Tracy, harbors plenty of familiarity with the entertaining array of quirks found in leaders across the globe. In fact, the showrunner has specifically cited the non-fiction book The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by Ryszard Kapuściński as one of the initial jumping-off points for The Regime. The book chronicles the twilight of Haile Selassie’s reign in Ethiopia through the lens of palace workers.

French politician Marine Le Pen and her paternal legacy in politics may also play a role in influencing the character of Elena Vernham, whose relationship with her father looms large in The Regime‘s pilot. Variety has cited the comedy film The Death of Stalin and the fictional tale of 1984 as other potential influences on The Regime’s overall tone. The Habsburg Dynasty likewise exerts a major sway over The Regime’s visual sensibility, particularly through many of its Austrian filming locations. Ultimately, Elena’s not based on one specific leader, with Tracy reporting to Elle that he didn’t “want audiences to watch the show and think, ‘Oh, this is a version of so-and-so. Well, this is a Frankenstein version of… it’s this dictator plus that person.”

With The Regime‘s ambiguous “Middle Europe” proving flush in cobalt mining, international interest in Elena’s territory has been positioned to play a role in the show’s overall story. While Elena Vernham has proven a hodgepodge of European leaders, it’s possible that incoming American characters such as Martha Plimpton’s Secretary of State Judith Holt will exemplify a similar blend of parody regarding US politics. Aside from his work on Last Week Tonight and The Onion, Tracy has heavily skewered American political machinations in the past as a writer and producer on Succession.