Secretary

2002

Directed By: Steven Shainberg

Screenplay By: Erin Cressida Wilson

Starring: James Spader; Maggie Gyllenhaal; Jeremy Davies; Patrick Bauchau; Stephen McHattie; Lesley Ann Warren 

Based On: Secretary by Mary Gaitskill

Secretary is a 2002 American erotic romantic comedy drama film directed by Steven Shainberg and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the short story Secretary by Mary Gaitskill. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal as “Lee Holloway” and James Spader as “Mr. E. Edward Grey,” the film explores the intense relationship between a dominant lawyer and his submissive secretary, who indulge in various types of BDSM activity such as erotic spanking and petplay.

Many changes were made from Mary Gaitskill's original short story, which was significantly expanded and given greater depth to be made into a feature-length film. Lines of dialogue were changed, such as Lee's statement "I'm so stupid" became the fantasy-sequence cry "I'm your secretary," which the director thought far more "celebratory". Additionally the ending of the story was changed to give a more positive outcome to the relationship. Steven Shainberg stated he wished to show BDSM relationships can be normal and was inspired by the film My Beautiful Laundrette, which he feels mainstreamed gay relationships for audiences in the 1980s.

A central component to the film, the office spaces of Edward and Lee, took form after two years of planning by Shainberg and production designer Amy Danger, who had collaborated with Shainberg on several projects. The desire to have the office feel homemade and express Edward's interest in the growing of plants led Danger to juxtapose a natural decor in the office with a predominantly artificial outside world. Although the interior sets were carefully constructed, the filmmakers did face some location-related challenges. Notably in one instance the filmmakers accidentally obtained shooting rights for the wrong park. Gyllenhaal encouraged them to hastily shoot the required park scene anyway, without permission, while crew members distracted the local police.