Kate Winslet's I Am Ruth's has won has won Best Single Drama at the BAFTA TV Awards. The Channel 4 film beat Netflix’s The House and BBC Three feature Life and Death in the Warehouse to the coveted prize. The film delves into the fractured relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter. Winslet plays Ruth, a concerned mother who witnesses her teenage daughter Freya (played by Winslet’s real-life daughter with director Jim Threapleton, Mia Threapleton), as she becomes consumed by the pressures of social media and sinks into a deep depression.
As the award was announced, Winslet looked in utter shock. Creator Dominic Savage thanked the 'Marvelous' Winslet and Threapleton, along with crediting EP Krishnendu Majumdar, the Chair of BAFTA, who runs the show’s indie Me+You Productions. He said, 'I’d like to thank Channel 4 for supporting such creativity because it’s not easy to get behind but they have and they inspire me to make more of these films,' he added.
Speaking backstage to Grazia Winslet said, 'I am in complete and utter shock. These moments don't get old at all - I really didn't think we would win. I'm genuinely shocked but so proud because we made something that really touched people.'
She continued, 'The mental health crisis amongst teenagers because of the damaging effects of social media is no secret and it's global - and it dosen't seem to be getting any better. The reason we wanted to create this film because we wanted to say, "Hold on, that's me and we can do something like Ruth and Freya did."
When asked by Grazia what scene was particularly challenging to film Kate said,' 'There's a scene where Ruth is sitting on the edge of the bed and speaking about how she doesn't like herself. That was very hard because I can categorically say that half of those words have come out of very close friends mouths - probably my own mouth at some stage.' She added, 'Once you make a commitment to play a character to such an extent that you are willing to bring your own experiences it's quite frightening.'
Winslet also spoke about the lasting impact of the drama, 'People still come to me on the street and talk about this - and that is the powerful thing about our jobs. That's why we did I am Ruth.' She added, 'So much of our experiences, people we know's experiences - parts of everyone are in this story and that makes it very precious and makes this moment feel extremely unique.'
On the red carpet Winslet also praised her daughter Mia's emotional debut performance. She told Sky, ' To not only see your child do something that they love but to do it incredibly well and what she had to do to create this character and really dig inside of herself. I couldn't believe it was her she was just so brilliant.'