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I WAS JUST HUGE.■■■■■
CANCT BEA■ IT.
HAVE AN ANGEL NOW.
■■■■ BY @HE AG OF 27■
KATE WINSLET MARRIED AND DIVORCED,
GAVE BIRTH TO A BABY GIRL,
AND CO-STARRED IN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MOVIE
INOLLYWOOD HISTORY.
YOU REALLY WANTED THE ROLE OF ROSE IN "TITANIC."
SO DESPERATELY.
DID YOU REALLY CALL J?
REALLY CALLED HIM.
AND WHAT DID YOU SAY?
AFTER I DID A SCREEN TEST FOR HIM,
I CALLED HIM AND SAID, "NOW LOOK, YOU'RE MAD
"IF YOU DON'T ASK ME TO DO THIS."
WHAT WAS I THINKING?
I MEAN, HOW DISGUSNG IS THAT.
BUT YOU HAD NOTHING TO LOSE.
THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE THINKING.
THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT.
AND IF I DON'T MAKE THIS CALL,
LIV.
I JUST REMEMBER REALLY THINKING THAT.
AND WHAT DID HE AY, THOUGH,
WHEN YOU SAID THAT?
HE LAUGHED.
I REMEMBER HIM REALLY LAUGHING.
REALLY LAUGHING A LOT.
FILMING ON "TITANIC" LASTED NINE GRUELING MONTHS.
Jules:IT' NOT A SECRET
THAT IT WAS A REALLY TOUGH SHOOT.
IT WAS A REALLY TOUGH SHOOT
FOR ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?
WE REALLY DID HAVE A GOOD TIME.
IT WAS EXHAUSTING, BUT WE HAD A GREAT TIME
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE,
PARDON THE PUN,
BUT WE WERE A■L IN THE SAME BOAT.
OH, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST SAID THAT.
HA, HA, HA, HA.
SO, SO TERRIBLE. TERRIBLE JOKE.
MORE ABOUT THAT BOAT A LITTLE LATER.
TO DISCOVER THE REAL KATE WINSLET,
WE NEED TO GO BACK TO HER ROOTS,
READING, ENGLAND.
KATE WAS BORN IN OCTOB 1975.
SHE WAS DESTINED TO BECOMAN ACTRESS.
ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, ELAINE LIPWORTH:
ACTING WAS I■ KATE WINSLET'S BLOOD.
HER FALY WERE ALL VERY THEATRICAL,
GOIN■ BACK A LONG WAY.
HER GRANDPARENTS WERE ACTUALLY INVOLVED
IN VAUDEVILLE, IN THE MUSICAL SCENE
IN ENGLAND FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
Kate: IT WAS KIND OF MAPPED OUT FOR ME
A TTLE BIT JUST BECAUSE
ALL OF MY FAMILY DO IT--
AND MY OLDER SISTER,
MY YOUNGER SISTER, MY DAD.
AND THEN, ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE,
THERE'S A LONG LINE OF ACTORS
AND IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS
UGHT, WELL,
I'LL PROBABLY END UP DOING THAT, REALLY,
BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE DOES.
WAS IT A NOISY HOUSE?
OH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA.
OTOUS-- AND STILL IS TO THIS DAY.
AND THEY'RE ALL FANTASTIC,
LARGER-THAN-LIFE PEOPLE.
AND THEY'RE BRILLIANT. THEY'RE JUST BRILLIANT.
BUT I JUST GREW UP IN THAT WORLD,
AND LOTS OF DRESSING UP,
AND FRANKLY SHOWING OFF AND TRYING TO BE HEARD.
KATE WAS HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR,
STARTING AT THE TENDER AGE OF 5.
Kate: IT'S SO PATHETIC,
BUT IT'S TRUE ACTUALLY.
I REMEMBER BEING AT MY INFANT SCHOOL,
AND THERE WAS A SCHOOL NATIVITY PLAY
EVERY CHRISTMAS.
AND THE HEADMASTER STOOD UP
AT THE SCHOOL ASSEMBLY IN THE MORNING
AND WAS READING THE LIST
OF WHO WAS GOING TO BE PLAYING WHAT.
AND I REMEMBER SITTING THERE,
QUITE LITERALLY THINKING,
"I REALLY HOPE I'M EITHER MARY
"OR THE ANGEL GABRIEL."
AND I WAS ASKED TO BE MARY.
AND THIS WAS JUST
SO INCREDIBLY EXCITING TO ME.
AND I TOOK IT TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY SERIOUSLY.
AND I WAS 5.
BUT I REALLY, I VIVIDLY REMEMBER THAT.
AND I THINK THEN I SORT OF THOUGHT,
MAYBE THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB YOU GOT?
MY FIRST ACTING JOB
WAS A SUGAR PUFFS COMMERCIAL.
IT WAS A SUGAR PUFFS COMMERCIAL.
THAT'S RIGHT. AND I WAS 12.
AND THRILLED.
OH, COMPLETELY OVER THE MOON.
BUT ALL YOU COULD SEE WAS MY ARM
ON THE EDGE OF FRAME--
OH, YOU DIDN'T GET TO SEE YOU?
NO, THERE WERE ABOUT
IN THIS COMMERCIAL.
AND I WAS QUITE CHUBBY,
SO I THINK THEY SORT OF,
I THINK I KIND OF SWAMPED THINGS A BIT
IF I STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN,
SO I WAS KIND OF SHOVED ON THE EDGE,
AND ALL YOU SAW WAS MY ARM.
I WAS FINE WITH THAT.
"CHUBBY."
TO THIS DAY, A WORD KATE CAN'T SEEM TO ESCAPE.
AT THE REDROOFS THEATRE SCHOOL,
KATE WAS NICKNAMED "BLUBBER" BY HER CLASSMATES.
Kate: I WAS ALWAYS A BIT OF A MISFIT.
I NEVER QUITE FITTED REALLY.
BECAUSE I WENT TO A THEATER SCHOOL
WHERE, YOU KNOW,
THE GIRLS WERE ALWAYS VERY PETITE
AND, YOU KNOW, BRILLIANT DANCERS,
AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
AND I WAS ONLY EVER
REALLY INTERESTED IN ACTING,
AND EATING FRANKLY, AT THAT STAGE.
SO I NEVER QUITE LOOKED THE PART.
SHE WAS OVERWEIGHT,
SHE WAS TEASED AT HER ACTING SCHOOL.
SHE DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF GOOD TIMES THERE.
SHE WAS-- SHE LOVED ACTING, AND SHE HAD GREAT FRIENDS,
BUT SHE WAS TEASED AND BULLIED,
AND PEOPLE CALLED HER FRUMPY AND DUMPY.
AS IF DEALING WITH WEIGHT ISSUES WASN'T ENOUGH,
YOUNG KATE HAD TO COPE WITH A PROFOUND TRAUMA
THAT ALMOST TOOK HER FATHER'S LIFE.
HE WAS IN A BOATING ACCIDENT,
WASN'T HE?
YES, HE WAS, YEAH.
WAS THAT...
THAT WAS AN ENORMOUS DEAL.
I WAS 10, AND MY DAD--
GOD, I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER REALLY TALKED
ABOUT THIS IN AN INTERVIEW BEFORE.
THAT'S OKAY.
MY DAD LOVES BOATS,
AND THEY WERE GOING INTO A LOCH ONE DAY.
MY DAD WAS AT THE FRONT OF THE BOAT,
AND HE TURNED 'ROUND TO HIS FRIEND,
WHO WAS STEERING AT THE BACK,
JUST TO TELL HIM TO SLOW DOWN.
AND AS HE DID THAT,
HE STEPPED INTO THE COIL OF THE ROPE,
AND IT PULLED HIS FOOT OFF.
COMPLETELY OFF.
HE SAYS HE REMEMBERS TELLING HIMSELF
JUST NOT TO FAINT.
"DON'T FAINT. DON'T FAINT."
BECAUSE IF HE HAD FAINTED
AND LOST CONTROL OF HIMSELF,
HE WOULD HAVE GONE STRAIGHT IN THE WATER,
AND HE WOULD HAVE DROWNED.
SO THE HELICOPTER CAME AND GOT HIM.
HE UNDERWENT A 15-HOUR OPERATION.
AND THEY PUT HIS FOOT BACK ON.
SO THERE'S A HAPPY ENDING TO THIS STORY.
THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING TO THIS STORY.
AND MY DAD IS LARGER THAN LIFE
AND FABULOUS AND A GREAT GRANDDAD.
WHAT'S THE BEST ADVICE YOUR DAD EVER GAVE YOU?
UM, THE BEST ADVICE MY DAD EVER GAVE ME.
JUST KEEP YOUR CHIN UP.
"KEEP YOUR CHIN UP, KID."
SHE DID KEEP HER CHIN UP, AND, IN 1991,
KATE CAUGHT A BREAK WHEN SHE WAS CAST
ON THE BBC CHILDREN'S DRAMA "DARK SEASON."
IT'S A WILD, IMPULSIVE STAB IN THE DARK, THOMAS,
BUT I THINK YOU HAVE TO SWITCH IT ON.
WHILE KATE AUDITIONED FOR PARTS,
SHE CONTINUED TO STUDY ACTING,
AND IN BETWEEN ROLES,
SHE HELD DOWN A PART-TIME JOB AT THE CORNER DELI.
IN FACT, THAT'S WHERE THE 17-YEAR-OLD
GOT A PHONE CALL THAT CHANGED HER LIFE.
I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD DO FILMS,
I MEAN, IT REALLY LITERALLY DID NOT ENTER MY HEAD.
COMING UP, A DIFFICULT PREGNANCY.
I FRANKLY FELT LIKE THE BACK END OF A BUS.
AND LATER, A DEVASTATING LOSS.
HE HAD BEEN IN MY LIFE SINCE I WAS 15, 16.