
Kate Winslet said in a new interview with Net-a-Porter that she actively took roles in smaller, independent films after the record-breaking success of “Titanic” because the fame that resulted in starring in James Cameron’s epic was “horrible.” Winslet was just 22 years old when “Titanic” opened in 1997 and became a cultural phenomenon. It won 11 Oscars, including best picture, and became the highest-grossing film of all time, as well as the first to gross $1 billion worldwide. To say it turned Winslet and co-star Leonardo DiCaprio into overnight superstars would be an understatement.
“[Young women now] know how to use their voice,” Winslet said. “I felt like [in the aftermath of ‘Titanic’] I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant.”
Related Stories

How YouTube and Netflix Copied Each Other’s Homework

Paramount+ to Launch in Thailand Within Monomax Streaming Platform
“Journalists would always say, ‘After “Titanic,” you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’…and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your fucking life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible,'” Winslet added. “I was grateful, of course. I was in my early twenties and I was able to get a flat. But I didn’t want to be followed literally feeding the ducks.”
Popular on Variety
During an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in 2022, Winslet remembered being repeatedly body-shamed in the aftermath of “Titanic.” She said the film’s ending prompted debates about her physical appearance. Viewers have long debated if there was enough room on the floating door for Winslet’s Rose and DiCaprio’s Jack to both survive the freezing Atlantic waters. Only Rose used the makeshift raft, with Jack dying of hypothermia.
“Apparently I was too fat,” Winslet said. “Why were they so mean to me? They were so mean. I wasn’t even fucking fat.”
Winslet continued, “I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, ‘Don’t you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is.’ That’s bullying, you know, and actually borderline abusive, I would say.”
“It can be extremely negative,” Winslet later told The Sunday Times about women having to navigate fame. “People are subject to scrutiny that is more than a young, vulnerable person can cope with. But in the film industry it is really changing. When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, ‘How’s her weight?’ I kid you not. So it’s heartwarming that this has started to change.”
Winslet is soon returning to HBO after the Emmy-winning success of “Mare of Easttown” as the star of the political satire “The Regime,” premiering March 3. Head over to Net-a-Porter’s website to read Winslet’s latest profile in its entirety.
Read More About:
Jump to CommentsMore from Variety
Meryl Streep to Star in Series Adaptation of ‘The Corrections’ From Jonathan Franzen, CBS Studios
Does Streaming Hurt Theaters? This Survey Says It Helps
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Success Doesn’t Downplay Risky Reboots Coming to Theaters
Most Popular
Luke Bryan Reacts to Beyoncé’s CMA Awards Snub: ‘If You’re Gonna Make Country Albums, Come Into Our World and Be Country With…
Donald Glover Cancels 2024 Childish Gambino Tour Dates After Hospitalization: ‘I Have Surgery Scheduled and Need Time Out to Heal’
‘Joker 2’ Ending: Was That a ‘Dark Knight’ Connection? Explaining What’s Next for Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker
‘Love Is Blind' Creator Reveals Why They Didn’t Follow Leo and Brittany After Pods, if They'll Be at Reunion (EXCLUSIVE)
Rosie O'Donnell on Becoming a 'Big Sister' to the Menendez Brothers, Believes They Could Be Released From Prison in the ‘Next 30 Days’
Coldplay’s Chris Martin Says Playing With Michael J. Fox at Glastonbury Was ‘So Trippy’: ‘Like Being 7 and Being in Heaven…
‘That ’90s Show’ Canceled After Two Seasons on Netflix, Kurtwood Smith Says: ‘We Will Shop the Show’
Why Critically Panned ‘Joker 2’ Could Still Be in the Awards Race for Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix
Dakota Fanning Got Asked ‘Super-Inappropriate Questions’ as a Child Actor Like ‘How Could You Have Any Friends?’ and Can ‘You Avoid Being a Tabloid…
Charli XCX Reveals Features for ‘Brat’ Remix Album Include Ariana Grande, Julian Casablancas, Tinashe and More
Must Read
- Film
COVER | Sebastian Stan Tells All: Becoming Donald Trump and Starring in 2024’s Most Controversial Movie
By Andrew Wallenstein 2 weeks
- TV
Menendez Family Slams Netflix’s ‘Monsters’ as ‘Grotesque’ and ‘Riddled With Mistruths’: ‘The Character Assassination of Erik and Lyke Is Repulsive…
- TV
‘Yellowstone’ Season 5 Part 2 to Air on CBS After Paramount Network Debut
- TV
50 Cent Sets Diddy Abuse Allegations Docuseries at Netflix: ‘It’s a Complex Narrative Spanning Decades’ (EXCLUSIVE)
- Shopping
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Sets Digital and Blu-ray/DVD Release Dates
Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXOAjp%2BgpaVfo7K4v46kmK2dXay2r7%2FLnqtmrJmprq%2B1wmadmqWVYrWwvtGimaWdXaG2p7GMrqWppJWWwKK602Zoa2tlbn14hZVrZg%3D%3D