She is beauty personified, her inherent talent helping her grab as many as 6 Oscar nominations at such an early age; she walks with oozing aura flaunting her curvaceous silhouette which gives today’s size-zero actresses of Hollywood a run for their career; her quirky self gets reflected in her hilarious ramblings off-stage, while not hesitating to prove her worth as a true heroine in real life when saving someone’s life; she is none other than the enigmatic, ethereal, elusive, imperial Kate Winslet. The actress created a hullabaloo throughout the globe with her powerful performance as Rose in what went on to become Hollywood’s most profitable film “The Titanic” only to follow it up with several others, each a detour from the previous one. As this dazzling damsel of Hollywood and super mom to her children walks down the aisle the third time, here is a peek into the actress’ life as viewed from both personal and professional perspectives.
Personal Life
A Glimpse into Her Childhood
Who would have thought that this resplendent lady who is known for her posh ways could have had a humble beginning as a child artist? Kate Winslet was born on the 5th of October in the year 1975 in Reading in a family which was closely associated with theater and acting. While her maternal grandparents were the founders of the Reading Repertory Theater, her parents, although claimed to be actors had to slog and struggle to raise up Kate and her three siblings. Her father Roger Winslet post an accident could hardly recuperate from the wounds which led to dwindling of his active career as an actor, while mother Sally Winslet tried to support him by working at a local pub. However, there was no talent to be lost for the young Kate who embarked on her acting career at the age of seven when she appeared in a cereal commercial on the British television. As she recollects her own childhood back then and the struggles they have been through almost all the time, the gorgeous actress refers to her past as a macabre comedy with her father toiling to support his family by doing almost anything-from selling Christmas trees to driving vans. And in the midst of all such trials and tribulations, the actress managed to pursue her dreams of hitting the theater and television by enrolling herself at the Redroofs Theater School in England’s Maidenhead at the age of 11 and grabbing stage performances whenever she could.
Her Dates and Marriages
The early years of her career saw Kate ensuing a five year long relationship with actor Stephen Tredre who later died being afflicted by cancer. She entered into a wedlock with whom she always referred to as her “love at first sight”, assistant director Jim Threapleton in 1998. She met him on the sets of “Hideous Kinky” in 1997 and was soon head-over-heels in love with him only to get separated in 2001. Two years down the line, Kate tied the knot with director Sam Mendes but got an amicable divorce in 2010. She has a daughter Mia Honey Threampleton from Jim and a son Joe Alfie Winslet-Mendes from Sam. Last year, December, she exchanged vows the third time with her beau Ned Rock n Roll.
Professional Life
As mentioned earlier, Kate’s begun her professional career as an actor when she was only 11 and from here, there was no looking back. She did a number of stage productions in Britain, each of which won her huge fame for the roles she played. Some of these were Adrian Mole, A Game of Soldiers, Peter Pan, and What the Butler Saw, while the television series “Shrinks” saw her debut as a serial actor on the British TV only to be followed by a couple of more such productions like Dark Season, Angle Saxon Attitudes, Get Back and Casualty. At the vulnerable age of 17, she embarked on her full-fledged film acting career with “Heavenly Creatures”. Her character in the film as an obsessive teenage murderer won her several plaudits, a role she bagged after mowing down 175 aspirants.
The flick brought her to the forefront of Hollywood with the result that she managed to seize several coveted opportunities soon after such as “Sense and Sensibility” and the Kid in King Arthur’s Court. Her role as Marianne Dashwood in the former endowed her with the Best Supporting Actress nominations in BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Academy Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. However, it was James Cameron’s jackpot production “Titanic” which skyrocketed her career and acquired her global recognition. From here her professional life witnessed a quantum leap and she started sifting through a plethora of offers to pick out the avant-garde ones and outshine in each one of them. Some of the films that followed embrace “Hideous Kinky”,” Holy Smoke””Iris”, “The Life of David Gale” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Finding Neverland”, “Revolutionary Road”, “the Reader” and “Mildred Pierce.
A Closer Look
Although she won accolades as the ravishing, romantic Rose of “Titanic”, it is her critical roles which actually depict her acting skills in their true sense. Whether you talk about her role as the adolescent murderer in “Heavenly Creatures” or the protagonist in “Jude” which saw her baring all, a mother in “Little Children” or her powerful performance as the older woman in relation with a guy younger to her in age in “The Reader”, every movie was an attempt to hone her dramatic convictions rather than acquiring a high profile. To draw the curtains, Kate Winslet remains one of the most enigmatic, interesting and daring actresses among today’s younger Hollywood swarm of actors.