A good film can make all the difference, transport us to another place, visually and emotionally - What's wrong with that. No drugs, no alcohol, just input, from a script writer, via a director and cast. Mmmmmm.

Kate Elizabeth Winslet (born October 5, 1975) is a BAFTA, Grammy and Screen Actors Guild Award winning English actress. She is noted for having played a wide range of diverse characters over her career, but is probably best-known for her critically acclaimed performances as Juliet Hulme in Heavenly Creatures (1994), Rose DeWitt Bukater in the highest-grossing film of all time, Titanic (1997) and Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader (2008). She has won awards from the Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association among others, and has been nominated twice for an Emmy Award for television acting, winning once for her role as Mildred Pierce in the 2011 mini-series of the same name. In 2012 she received the Honorary César Award for her life and acting career.

She is winner of a BAFTA and SAG Award, and a five-time Oscar nominee. At the age of 22, she broke the record for the youngest person to receive two Oscar nominations, and each of her subsequent nominations has broken a further record: the youngest person to receive three, four, and five nominations.

Biography - Early life

Winslet was born in Reading, Berkshire, England to Roger Winslet and Sally Bridges, both of whom were actors. Her maternal grandparents, Oliver and Linda Bridges, founded and operated the Reading Repertory, and her uncle, Robert Bridges, appeared in the original West End production of Oliver! Her sisters are Beth Winslet and Anna Winslet, also actresses.

Winslet, raised an Anglican, began studying drama at the age of eleven at the Redroofs Theatre School, a co-educational independent school in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where she was head girl and was soon cast as a spokesperson for a cereal in television commercials.

Kate Elizabeth Winslet

Career

Winslet's career began on television, with a co-starring role in the BBC children's science fiction serial Dark Season in 1991, followed by appearances in the made-for-tv movie Anglo-Saxon Attitudes in 1992 and an episode of the medical drama Casualty in 1993, also for the BBC.

Winslet's film career took off with laudatory praise and recognition in 1994 when she starred in a joint leading role, as Juliet Hulme in director Peter Jackson's critically acclaimed Heavenly Creatures, playing a vivacious and imaginative teen who helps her best friend murder her mother when they are not allowed to be together.

This role was followed by the successful film Sense and Sensibility (co-starring Emma Thompson), which made her well-known, especially in the UK. Winslet became famous world-wide after the 1997 release of Titanic, a massive hit which holds the record as highest-grossing film in history (not accounting for inflation) at more than 1 billion dollars in box-office worldwide. It went on to win 11 Academy Awards.

Winslet has been regarded as something of a critics' darling, generally receiving positive reviews for every one of her films. Despite Titanic's success, she has continued making lower-budget, independent films, including Hideous Kinky and Holy Smoke; her roles in these smaller, more artistic films appear to be one of choice - she turned down the lead in Shakespeare in Love to make Hideous Kinky. She has also taken several roles in studio "period drama"s like Quills, Iris and Finding Neverland. (For a time, she was given the nickname "Corset Kate").

TITANIC

In mid-1996, Winslet began filming James Cameron's Titanic (1997), alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Gwyneth Paltrow, Claire Danes, and Gabrielle Anwar had been considered for the role; when they turned it down, Winslet campaigned heavily for it. She sent Cameron daily notes from England, which led Cameron to invite her to Hollywood for auditions. Cameron described the character as "an Audrey Hepburn type" and was initially uncertain about casting Winslet even after her screen test impressed him. After she screen tested with DiCaprio, Winslet was so thoroughly impressed with him, that she whispered to Cameron, "He's great. Even if you don't pick me, pick him." Winslet sent Cameron a single rose with a card signed "From Your Rose" and lobbied him by phone. "You don't understand!" she pleaded one day when she reached him by mobile phone in his Humvee. "I am Rose! I don't know why you're even seeing anyone else!" Her persistence, as well as her talent, eventually convinced him to cast her in the role.

Cast as the sensitive seventeen-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater, a fictional first-class socialite who survives the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic, Winslet's experience was emotionally demanding. "Titanic was totally different and nothing could have prepared me for it. ... We were really scared about the whole adventure. ... Jim [Cameron] is a perfectionist, a real genius at making movies. But there was all this bad press before it came out, and that was really upsetting." Against expectations, the film went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing more than US$1.843 billion ($2.7 billion) in box-office receipts worldwide, and transformed Winslet into a commercial movie star. Subsequently, she was nominated for most of the high-profile awards, winning a European Film Award.

Winslet alongside Melanie Lynskey in Heavenly Creatures

Her first film role

In 2005, Winslet appeared in a television commercial for the American Express credit card. As part of the "My Life, My Card" campaign, the ad shows Winslet strolling around Camden Lock, in London, as she makes references to all the events that have happened to her film characters - such as going to prison for murder (Heavenly Creatures), being penniless and heartbroken (Sense and Sensibility), almost drowning (Titanic), losing her mind (Hamlet), having her memory erased (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and being in Neverland (Finding Neverland). During the ad, she is shown holding items relating to her films; during the reference to Sense and Sensibility she thumbs through a copy of the book, and when she references Finding Neverland, she's holding a hook.

Winslet also appeared in an episode of BBC's comedy series Extras in August of 2005, as a satirical version of 'herself'. She memorably told Andy and Maggie, the two characters who star in the series, that she was doing a film about the Holocaust because she was tired of losing out on Oscars, as she's been nominated four times, and that everyone who does a film about the Holocaust wins an Oscar. She also (while dressed as a nun) was shown giving phone sex tips to the romantically challenged Maggie. Ricky Gervais later said on NPR that she was his favorite guest star. Her performance in the episode did lead to her being nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series, but she did not win.

In February 2006, Winslet announced that she would collaborate with her husband, director Sam Mendes, on a film version of the Richard Yates novel, Revolutionary Road. As of March 2007, Leonardo DiCaprio signed to co-star in the project with Winslet as the Wheeler couple, a '50s couple who appear content on the surface but are withering internally. The film of the same name, Revolutionary Road, will be the first to reunite the notable duo, who have remained close since their first pairing in Titanic.

There are also talks that Mendes and his production company, Neal Street Productions, purchased the film rights to the long-delayed biography of circus tiger tamer Mabel Stark. Winslet has stated that she has been eager to portray this complex woman for three years now and is looking forward to working with her husband on bringing this to the screen. (See Mabel Stark's page for more information on the project.)

She also has interest in returning to the stage.

2011–present

In 2011, Winslet headlined in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, a small screen adaptation of James M. Cain's 1941 novel of the same name, directed by Todd Haynes. Co-starring Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood, she portrayed a self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband and falling in love with a new man, all the while trying to earn her narcissistic daughter's love and respect. Broadcast to moderate ratings, the five-part series earned generally favourable reviews, with Salon.com calling it a "quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece". Winslet won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for her performance.

Also in 2011, Winslet appeared in Steven Soderbergh's disaster film Contagion, featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. The thriller follows the rapid progress of a lethal indirect contact transmission virus that kills within days. Winslet portrayed an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer who becomes infected with the disease over the course of her investigation. Winslet's other 2011 project, Roman Polanski's Carnage, premiered at the 68th Venice Film Festival. An adaptation of the play God of Carnage by French playwright Yasmina Reza, the black comedy follows two sets of parents who meet up to talk after their children have been in a fight that day at school. Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz co-star. For her performance Winslet received a second nomination by the Hollywood Foreign Press that year. In 2012, Winslet's audiobook performance of Émile Zola's Thérèse Raquin was released at Audible.com. Audiofile Magazine's review said, "Kate Winslet reads as though she is relishing every morsel of the drama…She clearly loves the book, and her pleasure in the text is infectious…she grabs listeners and doesn’t let go."

In 2012, Winslet joined the production of Jason Reitman's adaptation of Joyce Maynard's 2009 novel Labor Day, also starring Josh Brolin and Tobey Maguire, and reunited with Kenneth Branagh on his film The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, based on the same-titled novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows. In addition, she has been cast in Charlie Kaufman's satiric musical Frank or Francis, also starring Steve Carell, Nicolas Cage, Kevin Kline, and Catherine Keener.

Kate Winslet looking stunning in black

Personal life

While on the set of the 1991 TV series Dark Season, Winslet met actor and writer Stephen Tredre, with whom she had a four-and-a-half-year relationship. Winslet and Tredre remained close after their separation in 1995. He died of bone cancer during the opening week of Titanic, causing her to miss the film's Los Angeles premiere to attend his funeral in London. She and Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio have remained close friends since the filming.

On November 22, 1998, Winslet married director Jim Threapleton. The two have a daughter, Mia Honey, who was born on October 12, 2000. After a divorce in 2001, Winslet began a relationship with director Sam Mendes, whom she married on May 24, 2003, on the island of Anguilla in the Caribbean, despite rumours that she was in love with a young Australian named Liam Donnelly. Their son, Joe Alfie, was born on December 22, 2003. Winslet and Mendes announced their separation in March 2010, and later divorced.

The media, particularly in England, have enthusiastically documented her weight fluctuations over the years. Winslet has been outspoken about her refusal to lose weight in order to conform to the Hollywood ideal. In February 2003, the British edition of Gentlemen's Quarterly magazine published photographs of Winslet which had been digitally enhanced to make her look dramatically thinner than she really was; Winslet issued a statement saying that the alterations were made without her consent.

Winslet dated Burberry model Louis Dowler on-and-off in 2010 and 2011. In August 2011, a fire broke out at a residence in which Winslet, Dowler, and her children were staying on Necker Island, the private resort island of Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. The fire caused significant damage to the home, but no injuries. Winslet and Dowler broke up during the course of that vacation.

During the same August 2011 vacation on Necker Island, Winslet met fellow guest Ned Rocknroll, and they soon began dating. Rocknroll was born Ned Abel Smith, but later legally changed his name. He is a nephew of Richard Branson and works for Virgin Galactic, the space-travel division of his uncle's empire. Winslet and Rocknroll became engaged in the summer of 2012. It was announced in September 2012 that the couple had moved from New York to live in the UK permanently, moving into a heritage home in South Downs National Park in West Sussex. Winslet and Rocknroll married in a private ceremony in New York in December 2012.

Awards

Winslet has earned five Oscar nominations and five Golden Globe nominations, as well as one BAFTA Award and four further BAFTA nominations. Premiere Magazine named her performance as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind the 81st greatest film performance of all time.

She has also received numerous awards and nominations from other organizations, including the Screen Actors Guild and the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Winslet won the Los Angeles Film Critics' Association (LAFCA) award for Best Supporting Actress for Iris. For Holy Smoke!, she was Best Actress runner-up at both the New York Film Critics' Circle (NYFCC) and the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC). Winslet was also NYFCC's Best Actress runner-up for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

At the 2011 Primetime Emmy Awards, Winslet won the Best Actress in Miniseries or TV Movie award for her role as the titular character in Mildred Pierce.

She was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Winslet has been selected for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.

Winslet in Titanic famous nude drawing scene

Academy Awards (Oscars)

Kate Winslet earned her fifth Academy Award nomination for Little Children at the age of 31, becoming the youngest actress to garner five nominations (in just 19 movies). Previous record holder was Olivia de Havilland, who secured her fifth at the age of 33 in 1950 (with 33 films). [1]

With her Best Actress nomination for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which she eventually lost to Hilary Swank, she surpassed Marlon Brando's record for the youngest actor to have received four Oscar nominations. Her Titanic nomination secured her the record for the youngest ever double-Oscar-nominee.

She has also received two nominations for playing younger versions of another nominee in the same film - the only two instances of different actors playing the same role in the same film both being nominated. She played the younger versions of nominees Gloria Stuart in Titanic and Judi Dench in Iris.

Her Academy Award nominations to date are as follows:

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actress, Sense and Sensibility (1995)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Titanic (1997)

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actress, Iris (2001)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Little Children (2006)

Golden Globes

Winslet has received Golden Globe nominations for Sense and Sensibilty (Best Supporting Actress), Titanic (Best Actress, Drama), Iris (Best Supporting Actress), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Best Actress, Musical or Comedy), and Little Children (Best Actress, Drama).

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture, Sense and Sensibility (1996)

• Nominated: Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, Titanic (1998)

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture, Iris (2002)

• Nominated: Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

• Nominated: Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, Little Children (2007)

Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett - Titanic

BAFTAs

Winslet won a BAFTA Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Sense and Sensibility. She also received a nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Iris in 2001, and two nominations for Best Actress in 2004, for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Finding Neverland. She lost to Jennifer Connelly and Imelda Staunton, respectively. In 2006 she received a Best Actress nomination for Little Children.

• Won: Best Supporting Actress, Sense and Sensibility (1996)

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actress, Iris (2002)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Finding Neverland (2005)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2005)

• Nominated: Best Actress, Little Children (2007)

Grammys

In 2000 she won a Grammy Award for the 'Best Spoken Word Album for Children' for Listen To the Storyteller.

Emmys

On July 6, 2006, Winslet was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for playing herself on an episode of Extras that premiered in 2004. In this episode she comically criticized the fact that she had (by that point) been nominated for an Oscar four times, but had never won one.

• Nominated: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, Extras (2006)

Music

Winslet has also enjoyed a brief taste of success as a singer, with her single "What If" from the soundtrack of Christmas Carol: The Movie, which reached #1 in Ireland and #6 in the UK (she also filmed a music video for the song). More recently, she participated in a duet with "Weird Al" Yankovic on the Sandra Boynton CD, Dog Train, and sang in the 2006 film, Romance and Cigarettes. She also sang an aria from La Boheme, called "Sono Andanti", in her film Heavenly Creatures, which is featured on the film's soundtrack.

Kate Winslet in denim

Experiences and interests

Mendes was scheduled to fly on American Airlines Flight 77, which was hijacked on 11 September 2001 and subsequently crashed into the Pentagon. In October 2001, Winslet was on a flight with her daughter, Mia, when a passenger who claimed to be a terrorist stood up and shouted, "We are all going to die". As a result of these incidents, Winslet and Mendes never flew together on the same aircraft, as they feared leaving their children parentless.

Winslet's weight fluctuations over the years have been well documented by the media. She has been outspoken about her refusal to allow Hollywood to dictate her weight. In February 2003, the British edition of GQ magazine published photographs of Winslet that had been digitally altered to make her look dramatically thinner. Winslet issued a statement that the alterations were made without her consent, saying, "I just didn't want people to think I was a hypocrite and that I'd suddenly lost 30 lbs or whatever". GQ subsequently issued an apology. She won a libel suit in 2009 against the British tabloid The Daily Mail after it printed that she had lied about her exercise regime. Winslet stated that she had requested an apology to demonstrate her commitment to the views that she has always expressed regarding women's body issues, namely that women should accept their appearance with pride.

In 2010, Winslet narrated a video for PETA, encouraging chefs to remove foie gras from their menus and asking consumers to boycott restaurants that serve it.

Winslet narrated the documentary A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism, which was generally released on 24 September 2010, after airing on HBO in April of the same year. Her involvement in the documentary led to her founding the non-profit organisation, the Golden Hat Foundation, whose mission is to eliminate barriers for people with autism. In 2011, Winslet received the Yo Dona award for Best Humanitarian Work for her work with the Golden Hat.

Selected filmography

Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett - Titanic flooding

Awards and nominations

LINKS and REFERENCE

http://www.redroofs.co.uk/information.html#day2

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4859247

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=14018

'The Office' Star Ricky Gervais Back with 'Extras'. 

The Blurb interview (April, 2004)

The Early Show interview

Index Magazine interview (2004)

USA Weekend interview

Kate Winslet video interview with stv.tv, December 2006

Kate Winslet at the Internet Movie Database

Kate Winslet at the Notable Names Database

Kate Winslet at TV.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/At-last-normal-Kate-Winslet-is-embracing-her-stardom

Kate Winslett at the Palm film festival

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