Kate Winslet: «I want to be seen differently»

«Well, bullshit, you understand, bullshit!» she calls from the other side of the narrow street. And having crossed: “I put the car in such a way that I could not leave, and when I left, it turned out that the street was one-way!” Under her arm she has a sheaf of script sheets on an iron clip, her hair is pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes are burning, the suede on one shoe is soaked — apparently, when Kate Winslet, late, ran to our meeting, she did not understand the road. But we met … and I immediately feel calmer. Winslet radiates this feeling. Next to her, anxiety is left, next to her everything seems, if not harmonious, then natural, going on its own. Everything in her is proportional, soft: a gentle blush, a chest voice, an open look. Growth is slightly above average. The physique is average. She is beautiful, but discreet, pastel. Such girls were once called «English roses». They have reason, and feeling, and pride, and no prejudice. They are straightforward, though modest. Perceptive, but restrained. Kate Winslet seems to have stepped out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel. Or from the paintings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti… Yes, she was told about it, but this is a cliché — because of her white skin, blush and because of her nationality, of course. Besides … “Why, I had a nickname — Katie in a corset! I also played Ophelia. But do not think that I am such a fragile nature!

She’s not fragile either. She has a size 43 foot (that’s not a typo) and she’s wearing boots again. “I don’t like shoes. Heels, narrow noses — this is all coquetry and hypocrisy. I love blunt-toed shoes with thick soles — they make you feel that you are standing firmly on the ground. Black slacks, black sweater. “A lot of people in New York wear black. And then, I have such a uniform — I call it «press clothes» — for meetings with journalists. Not flashy, but not the way I usually go. But I usually go … in general, that without holes is already good.

Kate Winslet is calm, because she stands on the ground with both feet, despises whims and double-mindedness, looks with an open look. Because she is who she is. She is natural. But she played different roles. But one day she stood on the very nose of the Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio hugged her around the waist, and Celine Dion’s voice sounded over the ocean at her feet — and now the world … How did it all happen and what happened in her when she became famous? A modest «English rose», a girl from a good family — having survived such changes in fate, how does she endure storms? And have you learned to anticipate the appearance of icebergs?

Kate Winslet: Firstly, I am not from a “good”, but from a theatrical, acting family. It is not the same. Secondly … «Crazy English bitch» — that’s exactly what Leo (Leonardo DiCaprio. — Approx. ed.) put it when I asked not to heat the water for the water scenes in Titanic. It seemed to me that my heroine should survive this — the horror of immersion in cold water — and it will be easier for me to convey this horror if I find myself in this freezer. And Leo thought it was nonsense, acting infantilism. He made me laugh so much on the set, we became friends, and then he said very seriously: “Fool!” Over time, I realized that he did not mean his cold at all. I realized after seven months of these terrible shootings … And this, excuse me, seven months in ice water … It tempers very much.

But you, apparently, the state of despair is not particularly characteristic? Are you generally an impulsive person?

The state of despair is quite familiar to me. As for impulsiveness — yes, it happens. I can wake up in the morning determined to take Mia to school and Joe to the babysitter, go grocery shopping, then read scripts. But I look out the window, and there is such a wonderful day. And I say: “Why don’t we guys go to the zoo?” And we go to the zoo and play tricks all day. Why not? We only live once, we must appreciate wonderful days, zoos and the opportunity not to read scripts today. And then, I want the children to remember me differently. That I didn’t just do the necessary or stupid things. That I was also a little fairy. In addition, impulsiveness sometimes helps in life. So it was with the Titanic. I finished reading the script, wiped my tears, blew my nose, and said to myself, “I definitely want to play this role, I just have to play it.” And she called her agent, she said all this. The agent started calling the right people, and I snatched Cameron’s number from him. And she called him herself, on the phone in the car. He says: «Kate, calm down, I’m driving, I have a speed of 120. We’ll talk later!» I thought that he just wants to get rid of me, and the role goes. And I say: “You will be a fool if you don’t choose me!” Probably, it was not the strongest argument, but — the fact — it worked!

You are very determined, but why did you choose such a dependent profession?

It was I who later realized that to be an actress to me, maybe according to my abilities, but not especially in character. Still, you are doomed all your life to pronounce other people’s words and follow other people’s instructions. But you know, like in that joke: the prince liked to play the violin, but he believed that it was done with the right hand, and when he found out about the left, it was already too late. Here I am, and when I found out “about the left”, it was too late — I already fell in love. And I became an actress because my father was an actor, my grandmother, grandfather — they had a small theater, with 60 seats, right in their house in Reading, in Berkshire, where I was born and grew up. There, our whole family was known as an actor for several generations. And when you live in an acting family, you simply cannot imagine another life. Although the fate of the actor in the provinces is not easy. To be honest, my father’s life was not particularly inspiring — he always fought, literally for a piece of bread. Theater, part-time jobs, theater and again random part-time jobs. An episodic role on regional TV is an occasion for a family celebration. In short, as a child, I knew that I would play in the theater, maybe, if I was incredibly lucky, on TV. I didn’t think about films — what is there! It seemed to me that cinema is where Judy Garland, Meryl Streep. But not me! And so, to this day, a part of me lives in constant amazement at my own career success. In amazement and gratitude.

But both of your sisters also became actresses. Maybe upbringing played a role.

I don’t remember that in our family someone was brought up purposefully: four children are no joke. We had a different atmosphere. The atmosphere is, I would say, friendly chaos. Mom and dad have always had a special relationship: they, and we all, were friends — they lived together and tried to give in to each other — simply because it’s more convenient to give in, a scandal is, you see, nervous and time-consuming. There was not enough money, yes. But no one felt left out. Although we got TV when I was 11, video — when I was 14. And not because parents considered TV harmful to children. No, they were going to buy it whenever they managed to earn something in excess of the usual minimum, but it always turned out that the money was needed for something else, vital — for an acting school for an older sister, for a car so that dad could drive with a reading program … In a word , each of us was forced to entertain himself. My brother and I put on endless one-act performances based on plays of our own composition (we didn’t have the patience for the second act) and read a lot. All this was only for the good — the imagination developed.

And your fame has not brought discord into the family? After all, the father and sisters are not as successful as you …

I felt some remorse: Anna, the older sister, was just starting to work in the theater, and here I, the youngest, was so flooded … I felt it until I realized: fortunately, my successes are being converted! I bought a real house for my parents, I help my sisters. Each of them has an amazing job in life! Anna has a theater for disabled children — she helps them, in my opinion, no less than doctors! The youngest, Beth, has a wonderful child, just a fantastic boy. But life is not easy for them. As, alas, and many actors. Which once again reminds me what incredible luck I had! Although, by and large, I do not need reminders. Life is short, everything in it must be valued, absolutely everything. I’ve known this for a long time.

How long ago? And where?

From 20 years old. When I lost the closest person. We met when I was 15 and he was 27. I was a fat teenager, at school I was teased with a “bubble”, I didn’t know how to resist it. And my survival strategy was simple — I completely shut down and just sobbed. And then Stephen appeared, an actor and screenwriter, an amazing person. He made me believe in myself. I left school and made my first attempts to become an actress. Stephen was very supportive. He would get up in the morning, pull the curtains open, and always say, no matter what the weather was: “What a wonderful day, Cathy! Get up and let’s go!» He had some special will to life, a special taste for it. He made me feel it too. We’ve been together for almost five years…

How has your self-esteem changed? Your words about the «fat teenager» sound amazing …

I played with Eli Wallach on The Vacation. He is over 90, he is a movie legend and, I think, a genius. We were having lunch together one day, and he said, «Kate, you have the lead role, and you act like you’re the heroine’s girlfriend.» His words made me seriously think. You see, few people have the confidence to say: yes, I play a major role in my life. It’s the same with me: I lost weight, with the birth of children, my weight stabilized by itself, I made some kind of career, I’m married to an exceptional person, I have wonderful children and all that … But in some ways I’m still “the heroine’s girlfriend «. Maybe because I still defend the right of a fat teenager to live in our world, which is already absurdly gripped by glamor mania. Here, a few years ago, a respected British magazine took me on the cover. The magazine comes out, I look, and there … «Photoshopped» me to the state of an anorexic from the podium. My height is at least 180 cm, mine is 169. And the size! In fact, the 8th, and there — it’s good if the 2nd! I began to protest against someone else’s body. I don’t like scandals, but at least people have learned that not everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves to meet glossy standards.

Apart from meeting Steven, what has influenced you the most in your life?

Much and all the time! Meeting with the first husband. Then with Sam. Own house. And having children, of course. Each stage of life is important. Any girl who has passed 15, well, just at the level of instinct begins to wait or look for a partner. When women say no, that they aspired to something else, I don’t believe it. Everyone is looking for love, everyone! And I just admitted it to myself. I sat, say, in a cafe, looked at the incoming people and thought: “Maybe this is it — intended for me.” That’s probably why Stephen was so important to me. And that’s why I married Jim. When we met him, I was completely lost after Steven’s death and devastated by the «titanic» filming. Jim seemed like a miracle to me — he was such a normal person, with ordinary human intentions and ambitions. It has so much health, psychological stability, strength! We broke up because we just didn’t need each other anymore. But we both need Mia, our daughter. Therefore, we have excellent relations, and in Mia’s life he is present no less than me.

What do you like about this new “profession” of yours? Home, family — is this not a routine for you?

I like this! I like to get up in the morning, feed everyone breakfast, pack sandwiches for Joe and Mia. I do it with pleasure, because I think that these boring moments for us are very meaningful for children. After all, they are a kind of guarantee that their lives are going in the usual, normal way. Guarantee their security. What they must be feeling. For example, cooking for me is also a kind of therapy. Every time we move to a new location for filming, I start by making soup. So that an unfamiliar house is filled with the smell of a real house, ours! But I don’t like hotels: they seem to me so lifeless, state-owned. Places of loneliness.

Then list what else you don’t like.

Hm… not so much. I don’t like it when people tell me to quit smoking. I plant a pack a day and, of course, I myself understand that smoking is harmful! I don’t like expensive gifts. In general, things in the form of a gift … A London friend told me about one of her new acquaintances, the wife of a Russian millionaire … or a billionaire? .. A charming woman, educated, but she only talks about things. You see, a man can buy all the things in the world, but he still talks only about things! It’s a tragedy! If Sam gave me a jewel, I would be horrified. I love creative gifts.

For example?

For example, for Thanksgiving, Sam gave me a membership to trapeze lessons. In the park, over the river. Do not understand? Tarzanka. How to ride a bungee. What I only dreamed of.

Private bussiness

• 1975 In Reading, Berkshire, UK, Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born, the second of four children in the family of an actor and a waitress.
• 1986 Enters Redroofs Children’s Acting School.
• 1987 Debuts in commercials for breakfast cereal.
• 1990 Meets actor and playwright Stephen Trader.
• 1991 First TV role in the BBC children’s sci-fi series The Dark Season.
• 1994 Debut role in Peter Jackson’s Sky Creatures.
• 1995 Sense and Sensibility by Ang Lee.
• 1996 «Hamlet» by Kenneth Branagh; Oscar nomination for Sense and Sensibility (subsequently, in connection with various roles, it will be nominated four more times).
• 1997 «Titanic» by David Cameron; death of Traedr; romance with british actor
• Rufus Sewell.
• 1998 On the set of Gillis McKinnon’s film Express to Marrakesh, she meets her future husband, Jim Trepleton.
• 1999 «Sacred Smoke» by Jane Campion.
• 2000 Birth of daughter Mia; «Pen of the Marquis de Sade» by Philip Kaufmann.
• 2001 «Iris» by Richard Eyre; a single with the song What If performed by Winslet from the cartoon «Christmas stories» takes 6th place in the British charts and 1st in the Irish; divorces Trepleton; meets director Sam Mendes, the author of the film «American Beauty» and winner of «Oscar».
• 2003 Marries Mendes; the birth of a son, Joe; publicly protests the change of his photo for the cover of GQ magazine.
• 2004 Fairyland by Mark Forster; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Michel Gondry.
• 2005 «Love and Cigarettes», a musical by John Turturro, in which Winslet won the role due to her singing talent.
• 2006 Little Children by Todd Field; voicing the role of the rat girl Rita in David Bowers and Sam Fell’s Flushed Out!
• 2007 Becomes the official PR representative of the Lancome brand.