Kate Winslet was just 21 when her role in “Titanic” catapulted her to international stardom, and recently she opened up about feeling “intimidated” and “criticized” by the press after the film was released.
Becoming famous “was like night and day from day to day,” said the actor, now 45, in a recent episode of Marc Maron’s podcast “WTF”. “I was subjected to a lot of personal physical exams and I was criticized a lot. The British press was really very cruel to me. “
“I felt quite intimidated, to be honest,” she continued. “I just remember thinking, ‘OK, well, that sucks and I hope it will pass.’ It sure did, but it also made me realize that if that was what it was, I wasn’t ready to be famous, thank you. Not definitely NO. “
She also said that she went into “self-protection mode” after the film was released, while she dealt with the invasive press attention, reminiscing about “cars and cars full of British tabloid photographers who photographed me buying a pint of milk and a newspaper. . ”
After “Titanic” was released, Winslet said he focused on appearing in smaller independent films, rather than jumping straight into another mainstream blockbuster.
“I was still learning to act. I’ve only been doing this since I was 17, so I still felt like I wasn’t really ready to do a lot of great work in Hollywood, ”she said. “I didn’t want to make mistakes, I didn’t want to ruin everything. I wanted to get into the long game. So, I strategically tried to find smaller things, just so I could understand art a little better and also understand myself a little better and maintain some degree of privacy and dignity. “
Winslet spoke earlier about how to handle physical scrutiny as an actor, including the pressure to look certain.
“When I was younger, at 14, a drama teacher told me that I could do well if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts,” said Winslet, receiving a BAFTA award in 2016, reported The Guardian. “So, what I always feel in those moments is that any young person who has been humiliated by a teacher, by a friend, even by a parent, simply does not listen to any of this, because that’s what I did – I continued and I overcame my fears and overcame my insecurities ”.
She also talked about her policy of “not retouching” when it comes to her photos in advertising campaigns and movie posters, and says she has always worked to inspire bodily confidence in her 20-year-old daughter, Mia.
“I stand in front of the mirror and say to Mia, ‘We are very lucky to have a shape. We are so lucky to have curves. We are very lucky to have good bums’, ”said Winslet in 2015.“ And she will say, ‘Mommy, I know, thank God’. It’s working, what I’ve been doing. It’s paying off. “