Seven year old Kate (left) Father Robert,
Siblings Anna, Beth, Joss & Mother SallyGeneral Information Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born in Reading, England, October 5th, 1975, to proud parents Roger and Sally Winslet. Kate is the second of four children. Kate's siblings include, older sister Anna (25, actress), younger sister Beth (20, actress) and youngest brother Joss (17). She is said to be extremely close to her family, especially to mum, Sally.
Romantic Interests
Young kate found romance at age 15 while filming "Dark Season" with actor Stephen Tredre (he was 28 then), whom she remained in a relationship with for nearly five years. Their engagement was broken off when he was diagnosed with cancer and started to undergo chemotherapy. "He was with me all the time," says Kate. "Even when I was 13 stone he never, ever asked me to lose weight." She has also been quoted in interviews as saying that the actor was "the other half of my soul."
Stephen died of cancer on December 8, 1997 at age 34. "Stephen and I were together for four-and-a-half years and we separated just over two years ago," Kate said. "But we remained extraordinarily close through that separation, and we spoke to each other every day. So it is a tremendous, tremendous loss." And yet, within the grief she has found strength. "To be honest with you, he was such an energized human being, such a big part of my life for such a long time, that I'm going into this year with an extraordinary sort of gusto. I feel that I'm taking on board all the strength that he ever gave me and really living every moment, which is what he absolutely did, all the time, until the very second that he died."
In 1998, Kate wed Jim Threapleton, 24, (pictured with Kate above) the assistant director of her next film "Hideous Kinky". They have been together since August 1997.
The Early DaysKate comes from a long line of actors. Although her grandfather was a dentist, he and her grandmother, Oliver and Linda Bridges, ran the 60 seat Reading Repertory Theatre from their back garden. Her uncle, Robert Bridges, starred as Mr. Bumble in the original West End production of Oliver. Kate’s theatrical roots go even further, with twin sisters on her dad’s side being part of a vaudeville troop. Kate knew she was to be an actress since she was very young, though she admits of having thought that she would end up in theatre. "Being cast as the Virgin Mary was my first acting buzz, if you like," Kate says.
"I was only five years old but I took it very, very seriously. I remember really, really being
Mary. Really, really feeling it."
At the age of 11, Kate attended the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, which she would eventually leave after completing her GCSEs at the age of 16. Her first job was an appearance in a Sugar Puffs commercial, dancing with the Honey Monster.
Coming from a family of good cooks and big eaters, Kate seems to continuously battle a weight problem that put her at 185 lbs at age 16. While at Redroofs, her nickname was “Blubber” but she was determined to change her appearance after a director on the set of Anglo Saxon Attitudes commented on the likeness between Kate and the 300 lbs woman playing her mother. She credits Weight Watchers for helping her lose over 50 lbs, a program Kate and her mother both participated in. She admits to carrying a photo of herself at age 16 in her wallet as a reminder so things don't get out of hand again.
In 1991, eight days after graduating, she landed a role on Get Back, a British TV sitcom, and stayed for two seasons. In addition to Get Back, Kate worked on British television in several other dramas and series; Shrinks (1988), Casualty (1989), Dark Season (1991), and Anglo-Saxon Attitudes (1993). Kate also stepped on stage as Pandora in the musical Adrian Mole, Wendy in Peter Pan, Sarah in A Game of Soldier, and Geraldine in What the Butler Saw, where she was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Award.
In the Movies
It is amazing how one has gone from a simple girl slicing ham at Traiteur Pagnol delicatessen in Primrose Hill to Hollywood's A-list in such a short period of time. It was after "Get Back" that she burst onto the international scene with her role in New Zealander Peter Jackson's independent film, Heavenly Creatures(1994), where she played teenage murderer Juliet Hulme. She won the Best Foreign Actress Award at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards for this excellent debut performance on the big screen. While the role demonstrated her passion for her craft and her astounding acting abilities, her next role didn't quite match her first one. She appeared in the Disney film, A Kid in King Arthur's Court.
However, after that failure she bounced right back with a string of period pieces. She fell in with the likes of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, the king and queen of period pieces. Kate appeared in Thompson's Sense and Sensibility for which she earned an Oscar nomination and won an SAG award for her bravura performance as Marianne. In 1996, she would appear in back to back films, in Branagh's Hamlet as Ophelia, and as Sue, in an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
But her biggest boost would come as she secured herself the role of Rose in James Cameron's much anticipated Titanic, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie broke a myriad of records both commercially and critically, and Kate received her second Oscar nomination, making her the youngest person in history to be ever nominated for the Oscar twice. At last, the world has recognized this wholesome actress, and many have become her supporters. Kate has won awards for five of her six performances so far...a feat most incredible for an actress of only 22.
At the present, Kate is one of the most talented, up-and-coming young actresses working in Hollywood. She has been featured on the cover of Vanity Fair in the company of Cameron Diaz, Claire Danes, and other actresses with brilliant careers ahead of them. Los Angeles magazine has put her on their "The 40 Most Important People Under 40 list," and People magazine has declared Kate one of the "50 Most Beautiful People In The World". So far, Kate's rise to stardom (acquiring such titles as 'English Rose' and 'Starlet Express') has given her a resume consisting entirely of period films, thus earning her the nickname "Corset Kate." She has expressed her desire to do a modern film to break this stereotype and "throw away the corset. I really want to be a Valley Girl in a feel-good American movie," she says. "I'd love to do some big action number." This will happen soon, when Kate will star in Jane Campion's (director of "The Piano") future film "Holy Smoke".
The FutureWith the success of Titanic, bigger and better things will definitely be forthcoming for Kate Winslet. Her next appearances will come in Hideous Kinky, coming out June of this year, and Holy Smoke, where she stars for brilliant director Jane Campion. It will be interesting how her film career will go, for with such diverse talent, her future roles are surely going to continue to amuse us. More films are to come. Kate brings sophistication and style to the world of young actors and will definitely prove to be a notable name. Without doubt, she's the actress of our generation!
Little-known Fact:
Kate won't travel without Coligor,
the toy bunny she has had since she was 2 years old.
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Combat Kate & Corset Kate |
North London, England |
Redroofs Theatre School |
Shopping, Cooking |
Resevoir Dogs, Silence of the Lambs, The Piano, & Grease. |
Kate is a vegetarian although she sometimes eats chicken. |
Smoking. Kate likes to roll her own with Drum tobacco, but says "The only frustrating thing about roll-ups is that you can't smoke them at parties," she once mused. "It's just too much trouble standing there and fiddling." |
Indigo Girls, Portishead,The Verve, Oasis, Crowded House, & The Sundays. |
