On The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kate Winslet looked back on being famous very young, on what she now calls success, and shared memories from Titanic, The Holiday and Lee, her film about the photojournalist Lee Miller.
Not ready for that kind of attention
Winslet made her first film at 17 and received an Oscar nomination at 19. That level of fame changes your life, she says, and she felt she was not emotionally ready for it. She had not become an actress to be famous but because she loved it. What kept her steady was her family, and ordinary things like a Sunday meal. Success, for her, is how you feel inside: her greatest achievement is raising three children to be resilient, creative, humble and kind. She tells younger actors: “Let’s go and make some mistakes together.”
Stuck on the Titanic
For the sinking scenes, part of the ship was mounted on a hydraulic arm that tilted further and further. Around them were stunt performers, but she and Leonardo DiCaprio simply held on. One night the hydraulics broke and the two of them were stuck at the top for hours: they sang cheesy love songs to each other, badly, with snacks hidden in their life jackets.
She loved working with Jack Black on The Holiday, which has become an evergreen: mothers and daughters stop her in the supermarket to tell her they watch it together every Christmas.
“Lee”
Her new film tells the story of Lee Miller, a photographer who refused to take no for an answer. Winslet praises Andrea Riseborough, who plays Audrey Withers, the editor of British Vogue who believed in women as writers and supported Miller when she wanted to go and document the war.