Kate Winslet was fresh out of teenhood when she was cast in what would become the highest-grossing film of all time, Titanic. As the blockbuster celebrates its 25th anniversary, the five-time Golden Globe winner has opened up about the 'borderline abusive' body shaming she endured from the press following its release in 1997.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor, now 47, commented on the long-running debate over the ending of the film, which saw her character Rose DeWitt Bukate survive the sinking of the ill-fated ship after her beloved Jack Dawson (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) helped her get onto a floating door and made her promise she'll survive. Many have argued that there was room for Jack on their wooden buoyant.
Of one of the perceptions why they couldn't both fit on the driftwood, Kate said, 'Apparently I was too fat. Why were they so mean to me? They were so mean. I wasn’t even f*cking fat.'
The British actress - who reunited with the film's director James Cameron on Avatar: The Way of Water - went on to explain how she would've handled things differently.
She said, 'I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, "Don’t you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is." That’s bullying, you know, and actually borderline abusive, I would say.'
In an interview with The Sunday Times earlier this month, the Revolutionary Road star revisited the scrutiny she faced in her early days.
'When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, "How’s her weight?" I kid you not. So it’s heartwarming that this has started to change.'
In the same interview, Kate - who is mum to 22-year-old Mia (with Jim Threapleton) Joe, 18 (with Sam Mendes) and Bear, nine (with husband Edward Abel Smith) - explained why she thinks she had it easier than young film stars today.
'It was hard enough having the flipping News of the World on my doorstep, but that doesn’t even cut it now. That phrase about "today’s news being tomorrow’s fish and chip paper" doesn’t exist.
'The thing you did when you were drunk or foolish? It may come back to haunt you. Needing to be on one’s guard for young actors is just a different thing. It must be extraordinarily hard,' she said.