Kate Winslet
13 min readOct 5, 2016
Oscar winner Kate Winslet has starred in a number of acclaimed films. She gained fame in the blockbuster ‘Titanic’ and has also starred in ‘Little Children,’ ‘The Holiday’ and ‘Mildred Pierce.’
Date of Birth: 5 October 1975, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
Kate Elizabeth Winslet was born in Reading, Berkshire, into a family of thespians — parents Roger Winslet and Sally Anne Bridges-Winslet were both stage actors, maternal grandparents Oliver and Linda Bridges ran the Reading Repertory Theatre, and uncle Robert Bridges was a fixture in London’s West End theatre district.
Spouse(s)
- Ned Rocknroll (5 December 2012 — present) (1 child)
- Sam Mendes (24 May 2003–3 October 2010) (divorced) (1 child)
- Jim Threapleton (22 November 1998–13 December 2001) (divorced) (1 child)
Things you probably didn’t know about Kate Winslet:
- Kate met her now ex-1st husband Jim Threapleton on the set of her movie Hideous Kinky (1998), where he was working as an assistant director.
- Won Best Spoken Word Album for Children, Grammy Awards, shared with Graham Greene (2000).
- Turned down the Gwyneth Paltrow role in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and the Jodie Foster role in Anna and the King (1999).
- At age 11, she began attending the acting school Redroofs in Maidenhead, England, UK.
- Sister of Anna Winslet, Joss Winslet and Beth Winslet. Kate is the second child.
- Her first acting job was dancing with the Honey Monster in a commercial for Sugar Puffs cereal.
- Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Manchester Evening News Award for her theatre role in “What the Butler Saw” as Geraldine Barclay (1994).
- Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (1996) and (2004).
- She has a younger brother: Joss Winslet.
- Parents are Roger Winslet (actor) and Sally Bridges-Winslet.
- After her first success in the film Heavenly Creatures (1994), a reviewer predicted that she would always be associated with that character and would never be a big star.
- Recorded a song for the soundtrack for the movie Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001). Producers were so impressed at her efforts they have decided to release the ballad — called “What If?” — as a single. It reached the top ten in the United Kingdom, peaking at number six. [June 2001]
(September 3, 2001) Announced that she and husband Jim Threapleton are separating. - Purchased a $3 million (US) home in London with boyfriend (later husband) Sam Mendes. They also bought a home in New York City.
- She holds a unique position in Academy Awards history: Only twice have two actresses been nominated for playing the same character in the same film. The first two were Gloria Stuart and Kate in Titanic (1997). The second two were Judi Dench and Kate in Iris (2001).
- Married director Sam Mendes in a private ceremony whilst on holiday in the West Indies. [May 2003]
- Daughter Mia’s name is Italian for “my”.
- Prefers to wear boots rather than ordinary shoes because it makes her feel that her feet are “firmly on the ground”.
- Missed the premiere of Titanic (1997) because she was attending the funeral of close friend and former boyfriend, Stephen Tredre.
- Resides in West Sussex England, her main home is in Itchenor (West Sussex), she owns a home in the Chelsea district (New York City).
- Has a nephew: George Bryn Mawr Winslet Jones. His mother is Beth Winslet.
- Sprained her ankle on the set of Romance & Cigarettes (2005). [May 2004]
- She sold her North London home in Belsize Park to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.
- Was considered for the role of Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), but it was then decided she was too young to portray the role.
- On the day she had to film the straitjacket scene in Hamlet (1996), she learned she had won the role of Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic (1997).
- While serving as host of Saturday Night Live (1975) one week after Ashlee Simpson’s “recorded song malfunction”, she opened the show by singing and dancing live.
- Was born in the same hospital as her ex-husband, Sam Mendes.
Filmed her 2005 American Express commercial in Camden Town, London, England. - First screen kiss was with Melanie Lynskey in Heavenly Creatures (1994).
- Her performance as Clementine Kruczynski in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is ranked #81 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
- Her daughter Mia had to be delivered by Cesarean section, which made Kate feel she hadn’t given birth properly. She admitted to it only after giving birth to her son Joe (who had been delivered naturally).
- Was offered the role of Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), which went to Miranda Otto.
- Kate married Sam Mendes, who was childhood friends with Tom Hollander, with whom he went to Cambridge University and whom he directed in several plays. Tom and Kate were both in the film Enigma (2001).
- Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Premiere magazine for Sense and Sensibility (1995)) (1995).
- Won Best Film Actress, Smash Hits magazine (1998).
- Won Sexiest Actress, Entertainment Insider Awards (1998).
- Won Film Actress of the Year, Variety Club of Great Britain (1999).
- Nominated for Best Actress, Roughcut.com Internet Movie Award for Holy Smoke (1999) (2000).
- When interviewed on Good Morning America (1975) to promote her film The Holiday (2006), they surprised her by showing a clip which was supposedly Winslet on the Sugar Puff Commercial in 1987. However, the girl in the clip shown was not her. Winslet did not point out the error because she did not want to embarrass the researcher and get the person fired. She was then praised by the media for her caring and consideration of other people (2006).
- Her performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is her personal favorite.
- Along with Claude Rains (for Mr. Skeffington (1944)), Vanessa Redgrave (for Julia (1977)), Mare Winningham (for Georgia (1995)) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (for The Master (2012)), she is one of the few performers to be nominated for an Supporting Oscar (for Iris (2000)) for playing the title role in a movie. As of 2013, Redgrave is the only one to win.
- As of January 2009, at the age of 34, she is the youngest actress to rack up six Academy Award nominations .
- Won Best Actress, Toronto Film Festival for Heavenly Creatures (1994), shared with Melanie Lynskey (1995).
- Runner-Up for Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle for Holy Smoke (1999) (1999).
- Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Rec.Arts.Movies.* Critics Circle for Quills (2000) (2000).
- Runner-Up for Best Actress, National Society of Film Critics for Holy Smoke (1999) (2000).
- Runner-Up for Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (2004).
- Chris Tookey, of the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, chose her as Best Actress of the Year for her roles in The Holiday (2006) and Little Children (2006) (2006).
- Is a huge fan of Rufus Wainwright’s CD, “Poses” (mentioned in one of her ads for AmEx).
- Nominated for Best Actress in a Dramatic Performance, Excellent Dynamic Activism (EDA) Awards/The Alliance of Women Journalists for Little Children (2006) (2006).
- In an interview for the London Evening Standard, she revealed she has taken a year off (from April 2006 to April 2007) from her career, to spend more time with her family (2007).
- Official celebrity spokesperson for Lancôme perfumes and cosmetics (2007).
- Her children refer to very close friend Leonardo DiCaprio as “Uncle Leo”.
- He also bought Kate an inscribed gold ring, after they filmed Revolutionary Road (2008). However, Winslet keeps the inscription a secret.
- Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful in the World (2005).
- Auditioned for the role of Elizabeth in Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994). Helena Bonham Carter got the role, but Branagh was so impressed by Winslet that he offered her the role of Ophelia in Hamlet (1996).
- Involved, along with Sherilyn Fenn, Rufus Sewell, Miranda Richardson and Paul McGann in the 1998 film project “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline”. The film was to be executive produced by Emma Thompson, and written and directed by Fay Efrosini Lellios. The shooting was set to start in June 1998 in New Hampshire. The film was canceled due to financial withdrawal (1998).
- Placed third equal (with Anne Hathaway) for Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle for Revolutionary Road (2008) (2008).
- The Holiday (2006) was the first movie that Kate used her own accent and did not develop a special voice for her character.
- Sister-in-law of Edmund Harcourt.
- Only the third person in history to win two acting Golden Globes in the same year (Best Actress, Drama for Revolutionary Road (2008) and Best Supporting Actress for The Reader (2008)).
- As of 2015, she is only one of six performers who won a Golden Globe Award as Best Lead Actor/Actress in a Motion Picture Drama without being nominated for an Oscar for that same role (hers for Revolutionary Road (2008)). The others are Spencer Tracy in The Actress (1953), Anthony Franciosa in Career (1959), Omar Sharif in Doctor Zhivago (1965), Shirley MacLaine in Madame Sousatzka (1988), Jim Carrey in The Truman Show (1998). However, of those six performers, Winslet is the only one to be nominated and win an Academy Award for a leading role but for a different role, in a same year.
- The producers of the The Reader (2008) tried to promote Winslet as Supporting Actress during the Oscar race 2009 in order to enhance her chances to get nominated twice (for Best Supporting Actress for The Reader (2008) and Best Lead Actress for her role in Revolutionary Road (2008)). The Academy overthrew this plan by nominating Winslet for Best Lead Actress for her performance in The Reader (2008), leaving aside her performance in Revolutionary Road (2008), although she won several other award nominations in both categories for the respective movies. According to Academy rules, an actor is eligible for only one nomination in a single category.
- Is one of 13 actresses to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich (2000), Renée Zellweger for Cold Mountain (2003), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005), Helen Mirren for The Queen (2006), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Mo’Nique for Precious (2009), Natalie Portman for Black Swan (2010), Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011), Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012), Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013), Patricia Arquette for Boyhood (2014) and Julianne Moore for Still Alice (2014).
- Was originally cast as Nola Rice in Woody Allen’s Match Point (2005), but dropped out at the last minute, so she could spend her time with her child. The role went to Scarlett Johansson.
- Was considered for the role of Satine in Moulin Rouge! (2001) but Nicole Kidman, who went on to receive a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.
- Returned to work 11 months after giving birth to her daughter Mia in order to begin filming The Life of David Gale (2003).
Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Joe in order to begin filming Romance & Cigarettes (2005). - Born at 7:15 am-BST.
- (March 15, 2010) Announced that she had separated amicably from husband Sam Mendes two months previously.
- Is just 12 years older than Evan Rachel Wood, who played her daughter on Mildred Pierce (2011).
- Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson credited Kate with ‘helping to carry’ his 90-year-old mother out of his burning Caribbean-island house, where Winslet, her boyfriend ‘Ned Rocknroll’ and her two children were staying. [August 2011]
- Ranked as having one of the “Most Beautiful Famous Faces” by “The Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World” for 17 consecutive years. She was ranked #55 in 2013, #65 in 2012, #50 in 2011, #31 in 2010, #22 in 2009, #12 in 2008, #15 in 2007, #18 in 2006, #21 in 2005, #13 in 2004, #11 in 2003, #14 in 2002, #4 in 2001, #11 in 2000, #20 in 1999, #17 in 1998, and #27 in 1997.
- She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.
- Kate was the first actress considered for the role of River Song in Doctor Who (2005). The role went to Alex Kingston.
- (November 22, 2012) Was awarded the CBE, by Queen Elizabeth II, for her services to acting.
- (December 26, 2012) Announced that she and Ned Rocknroll, whom she has been engaged to since July 2012, married in a secret ceremony in New York with just Winslet’s children, Mia and Joe, and 6 friends present.
- Leonardo DiCaprio gave the bride away.
- Niece-in-law of Richard Branson.
- One of her maternal great-great-grandfathers, Alfred Lidman, was Swedish.
- Was working in a deli when she landed her first film role, Heavenly Creatures (1994).
- She has appeared on over 300 magazine covers around the world.
- Gave birth to her 1st child at age 25, a daughter Mia Honey Threapleton on October 12, 2000. Child’s father is her now ex-1st husband, Jim Threapleton.
- Wrote the book “The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism” to raise awareness and support for autism. The book has personal statements and self-portraits from various celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine. All revenues will go to The Golden Hat Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Winslet [2012].
- As of 2015, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Sense and Sensibility (1995), Titanic (1997), Finding Neverland (2004) and The Reader (2008). Titanic (1997) won in the category.
- Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 28, a son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes on December 22, 2003. Child’s father is her now ex-2nd husband, Sam Mendes.
- Gave birth to her 3rd child at age 38, a son Bear Blaze Winslet on December 7, 2013. Child’s father is her 3rd husband, Ned Rocknroll.
- Gave her 3rd son name Bear after her old friend’s nickname and a nickname Blaze because she and her husband met in a house fire.
- She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6262 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 17, 2014.
Turned down the female lead role in Transcendence (2014) due to her dual conflicts with A Little Chaos (2014) and Divergent (2014). The role went to Rebecca Hall instead. - Was the 134th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Reader (2008) at The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) on February 22, 2009.
- Completed on filming A Little Chaos (2014) when she was three months pregnant with her son, Bear Blaze. She did her own stunt in the scene where her character falls into a weir, she didn’t tell anybody that she was pregnant back then, because she knew they wouldn’t let her fall in if they knew.
- Quentin Tarantino and Liv Ullmann have expressed their desire to work with Winslet.
- Was five months pregnant with her third child, Bear Blaze, while filming Divergent (2014). Despite only being on set for four weeks, it got to a point where shooting above her waist was required as well as her carrying folders, files and iPads to cover the bump in master shots.
Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Bear Blaze, to begin filming Insurgent (2015). [May 2014] - Learned how to sew for her part in The Dressmaker (2015). Costume designer Margot Wilson was exclusively hired to create the outfits for Winslet’s character, and Winslet assisted this process, with her newly taught skills.
- Winslet and her Titanic (1997) and Revolutionary Road (2008) co-star (as well as close friend) Leonardo DiCaprio have been nominated for Oscars in the same year twice: in 2006 for Blood Diamond (2006) (DiCaprio) and Little Children (2006) (Winslet), and in 2015 for The Revenant (2015) (DiCaprio) and Steve Jobs (2015) (Winslet).
- Is the 3rd youngest actress (at age 40) to have received 7 Academy Award nominations, behind Bette Davis (age 36) and Meryl Streep (age 38).
- The longest she has gone without an Oscar nomination is the 7 years between her nominations for The Reader (2008) and Steve Jobs (2015).
- In 2005, at the age of 29, she became the youngest actress to receive 4 Academy Award nominations when she was nominated for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). She lost her record to Jennifer Lawrence (25 years old) in 2016.
- As of 2016, Winslet holds the record of youngest actress to receive five and six Academy Award nominations. She received her fifth nomination in 2007, at age 31, for Little Children (2006), and her sixth nomination in 2009, at age 33, for The Reader (2008).
- Winslet and Cate Blanchett have both received their seventh Academy Award nomination in 2016. Winslet for Best Supporting Actress for Steve Jobs (2015), and Blanchett for Best Actress for Carol (2015).
- Was originally cast in the role ultimately played by Rachel Weisz in The Mercy (2017) before dropping out.
- While being interviewed by Entertainment Tonight at the red carpet of the 2016 Golden Globes, her long-time friend Leonardo DiCaprio stated that Winslet is his favorite actress in the industry and he would love to work with her again.
- Husband Ned (b. Abel Smith) works for uncle Richard Branson’s space travel company Virgin Galactic in the capacity of “Head of Marketing Promotion and Astronaut Experience”.
- She has worked with 6 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Peter Jackson, Ang Lee, James Cameron, Sam Mendes, Roman Polanski, and Danny Boyle.
