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When you are married to a writer, the phrase "what's mine is yours" takes on a whole new meaning. My husband recently went to New York to interview Kate Winslet, and while it is an exaggeration to say that there have been three people in our marriage these last few weeks, it is only a slight one.
To his surprise, my husband liked Kate. At the beginning of the interview, her assistant went out to get some coffees, returning with one in a mug (for Kate) and one in a paper cup (for him). Rather than not noticing the disparity, as most five-times-Oscar-nominated actresses probably wouldn't, Kate was most concerned, offering to fetch him a mug from the kitchen. It was a nice touch.
In the past, Winslet has taken a real bashing from the British press: lambasted for "allowing" herself to be airbrushed on the cover of GQ (she maintained it had been done without her knowledge or consent); pilloried for "trading up" in her personal life (she divorced cameraman Jim Threapleton and went on to marry director Sam Mendes) and even criticised for saying her first child was born naturally when, in fact, she had had a caesarean. Good old Britain: always happy to have a go at any successful woman who sticks her head above the parapet.
It is a peculiarly British trait that, even when one of our actresses becomes successful, we expect her to remain "just like us", and watch like hawks for the teeniest hint of ego. But Winslet has, to all intents and purposes, remained "just like us" - some achievement, considering the circles she now moves in.
She smokes roll-ups, and doesn't pretend not to. She might have had her teeth whitened, but she hasn't succumbed to Botox. Her nude scenes in The Reader reveal the body of a woman who has had two children, rather than the eviscerated frame of your average thirtysomething Hollywood actress, regardless of how many children she has had.
Like Tilda Swinton ("a husband and a lover? So what!"), Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne-Marie Duff, Winslet belongs to that great tradition of British actresses who don't toe the line, and aren't afraid to show a bit of character. As Hollywood actresses become more plastic, more controlled and more remote, the time is right to appreciate Kate's authenticity. Expressionless beanpole or earthy fag-smoker? I know which one I'd rather see on screen.
Reader views (3)
She looks lovely. A natural beauty.
- Joe, Belfast, 18/12/2008 09:48
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My God She looks Old!!!!
- Stuart, london uk, 17/12/2008 23:09
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Why don't the British press ever appreciate their great film actresses,until Americas given them props? From Viven Leigh , Dame Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley,Rosamund Pike, Emily Blunt, Tilda Swinton to Kate Winslet, these women(and many more) are loaded with talent and beauties on top of that. It takes the Americans giving them years and years of kudos and appreaciation before the British press gives them a proper word of congratualtions or thanks. I just don't get why the Brit press is so hard on their film talent and that includes the wonderflly talented British actors over the years.
- Natalie Chetelo, Los Angeles California USA, 17/12/2008 19:16
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