| Kate
Winslet: The Girl of Titanic Fotogramas (Spain), March 1998 With only half a dozen films, british actress Kate Winslet is actually on the top of a new generation of talented young actress. Now, she also is the youngest actress who has been nominated for best actress award in next Oscard award ceremony because of her romantic performance in Titanic. Far from the physical norm for a Hollywood star, Kate fights to make this year a great one, hoping it will be the begining of a big friendship with glory. Have been nominated twice for Oscar awards with only six films is very unusual, but Kate Winslet can be proud of it thanks to her performance in Sense and Sensibility. With the release of her first film, Heavenly Creatures, her name became synonymous with professionalism, talent and an excessive passion which is capable of upsetting people like James Cameron or Ang Lee. But, the most important thing is that Kate has sincere confidence in her own qualities. F: Is this the Winslet year? Kate: Nooo, my God!!! F: But, you donīt deny that your life has changed a lot in a short time. Kate: I admit 1997 has been a great year in professional and personal terms, although Iīve learned a lot of things that makes me feel a bit panicked. Sometimes I think: "Oh my God, I must show the people my life is as normal as possible. I must show Iīm not glamorous at all". I īve discover I donīt want to enter in to this game. F: Do you think that because of great success of Titanic? Kate: No, I don't. Iīve thought in this way since I spent a few days in Hollywood to promote Heavenly Creatures. I was 19 and it was an incredible experience. I saw big men smoking cigars and all sorts of things about the nastiest part of this business. But, there are genuine people too. I generally think that Hollywood is an unreal place and that the Californian way of live doesnīt agree with me. F: Did you feel a great deal of pressure during the making of Titanic? Kate: Yes, But I adopted a defensive pose about it. At the begining, it was very hard for me because of a girl who was accompanying me the first few nights. One afternoon I was making some tea for both of us and she said: "Buah, the star is making a cup of tea". Then I replied: you can f*ck yourself, because I donīt want to give you tea if you keep calling me a star. Although Iīm an actress I īm perfectly capable of make a cup of tea, so shut up and drink it. F: What do they say, this is the price of fame? Kate: Yes, itīs true, but I never thought that this could happen to me. Well, I knew these things always happened, but I didn't realize how extreme they could be. For example, the day I went out to Covent Garden with Rufus Sewell. It was incredible, the press made a lot of noise about it. This time I learned a valuable lesson: "I must be careful about all I do". F: Do you trust anybody now? Kate: Well, itīs not neccesary to exaggerate it. There are good things in this industry like people as Emma (Thompson) and Ken (Branagh), Leo (Di Caprio) and Jim (Cameron)... F: You have a great friendship with Emma... Kate: Yes, I do. We shared a lot of things during the making of Sense and Sensibility. There was the moment that the relationship between her and Kenneth Branagh was deteriorating and I became a helpful friend. Well, it really was a mutual thing because we prepared our performances, spoke together, etc...this is an habit we haven't lost fortunately. F: Did you ask her opinion when you received the proposal to make Titanic? Kate: Yes, of course. I read the script with Emma and she reacted the same as me: she couldn't stop crying. Then, she told me Kate, you must do it. And I told her: I know, I know. F: You worked with Keneth Branagh in Hamlet, the first film you didnīt need to make an audition to be chosen to. Do you think this film was an turning point in your career? Kate: Yes, it was. Ken's call was important but it was most important for me for all I learned. It was a very intense experience, not only for hard work on the set, but because I was surrounded by excellent people. First day on the set I saw Ken, Julie, Christie, Dereck Jacobi... I thought: Oh my God, they know how to do this well, all of them know the meaning of all the words and they dominate the conversation with their dialogue. This was very hard for a newcomer like myself and it tested my strengh and self-confidence. F: And then... Titanic. Weren't you afraid to work in this big project? Kate: I didn't have any feelings that all this happened too soon, because I apreciate every minute and everything that happens to me. Iīm not the kind of person who thinks: "Bravo, the work I have done is brilliant and now Iīm going to move up a level in my career". No, I don't have a diary with my next films in it, I never have. People can say that I made a big step with Titanic, but I don't feel like this. They offered me this film, I read the script and I thought: "I want to work on this film, not thinking that itīs a gigantic American project. I oblige myself to think this way, and fortunately Iīve been able to not forget my roots and treat it like a normal job. F: A very hard job I see: seven months and 20 hours on the set everyday. Kate: The person who was always on the move was Cameron. Heīs a genius and a maniac. I say heīs a genius because heīs a visionary, and heīs a maniac because he only says OK when all the things are exactly as heīs planned. But this is an admirable thing, because itīs incredible that he was able to control that huge production. I was sometimes frustrated and it was a little painful because I couldnīt follow his rythm and he didnīt like it. There were days I wake up and I think: "Oh my God, I want to die". I thought this way till I found out that James had the idea of Titanic in his mind for two years. PASSION AND TAI CHI F: This film is an allegation for the benefit of passion, instead of telling us about catastrophic history. Cameronīs passion, starringīs passion... Kateīs passion too? Kate: Of course. I felt very good in Roseīs role because Iīm a very temperamental woman. I remember when I was making Sense and Sensibility, Ang Lee asked me to down my revolutions and center my mind, making tai chi (laugh). But the problem is that Iīm incapable of hiding my feelings. I react to the things in an instantaneous way, although I try to keep always my heart very protected. F: Job conditions in Titanic were especially complicated. Did you be afraid about your safety sometimes? Kate: No, I didn't. Because nowadays making films is very safe. The set had plenty of safety gates in the roofs and guides that made it impossible for shoes to entangle my dress and makes me fall. However, I remember it was a scene with Leo and I, where we were between two iron gates and, in theory, there were no problem to get through them. But my coat gets hooked on them and this situation makes Leo laugh, besides the tight clothes. I didnīt know if I wanted laugh or cry. F: How was making Titanic with Leonardo Di Caprio? Kate: Leonardo? Nobody calls him this way to Leo... (laugh). F: Ok, How was to making Titanic with Leo? Kate: Heīs a very funny guy and heīs always joking. In this kind of gigantic productions like this, you can read an entire book between scenes. however, itīs neccessary to keep your mind sharp. We acted like two naughty children, singing horrible songs, making us laugh... We had a nice time together. MY SECOND BROTHER F: What about romantic scenes? Do you know that there are millions of Leoīs fans that are not happy with you you? Kate: Yes, yes, know it (laugh). Well, Leo, Jim and I worked very hard all the time to get a good love story. When I look at those scenes now I see me very sweet, quiet, calm, I seem like Iīm really falling in love... but, reality was a bit different: the carīs scene when we make love was terrible because we were in a very small space with a lot of glicerine around us to simulate the fact that we were sweating. At the end of every scene I had all his make up on me and he had all of mine on him. Besides, at this time we knew each other very well. He wasnīt a lover for me, he was like a part of my own family. F: This is a good explanation because Di Caprio is always surrounded by rumours about love affairs in his films with his female mates... Kate: Our relationship was very close, like brother and sister, but nothing like a love affair. At the begining I thought things didnīt work well, because I repeated in my mind: "Be careful, itīs impossible to work with this man, Iīll definitely fall in love with him. But, that never happened. Now, I think about this and I say: Heīs great! He really is a nice guy! F: What do you think of him as an actor? Kate: Heīs one of the best actors of his generation. There are only a few who have the talent he has: he couldīt do something wrong even if he tries it. F: ?(unable to translate) Kate: To tell you the truth, no way. Leo propose me it once, but when we were at half I was very tired. I believe he was angry with me (laugh). I don't like drugs either, I donīt approve them. It may sound rebellious or a uncool, but I have enough with my cigarettes, my coffee and ocasionally getting drunk. F: You don't seem to be the physical norm of women which Hollywood shows the rest of the world. Kate: Well, youīre right. There are people who are naturally very slim. But Iīm just naturally curvy. I feel happy the way I am, even though Iīm not the standard physical norm of a Hollywood star. While I was preparing for Sense and Sensibility, Emmma tolds me: "If you lose a bit of your weight to make this film I'll be really angry with you". And I do all Emma says (laugh). I believe that my responsibility as an actress is tell to all the young girls turmoiled with their weight that life is very short, and itīs here to be enjoyed without suffering. F: I see, then Slimmess Clinics and youīll never be good friends. Kate: Yes that's true. But everybody knows what do they want to do about it. Anaplasty and implants are good things if you think they make you feel better. But, I believe all of this make people become, especially actors, fantasy models who live in a fantastic and unreal world. For me to act is to be real and honest with people who see you. Audience donīt love you for your body neccessary, they love you for your honesty and the deepness of your heart. F: Have you thought what will you do after Titanic? Kate: Iīve received a lot of scripts, but the only thing I want to do after making Hideous Kinky (Kateīs next film) is to take some of my spare time to paint some of my flatīs walls and to roam a little with my family. F: Would become angry with me if I asked why you have you made so many period films? Kate: Well, this is a question other people never asked me before (laugh). If I must tell you the truth is that I donīt know it, sincerely, because I have nothing against contemporany films. Besides, Iīm a little bit tired of corsets, even though it was because they are breaking my back. Thanks to KWFC for the article. Translated from Spanish to English by Esteban of Barcelona Spain Edited by Mark Williams |