Kate Winslet has called on her famous peers to keep their looks natural amid the rise of non-surgical cosmetic procedures and weight-loss drugs.
Winslet has spent much of her career pushing back against Hollywood’s beauty standards; however, she now feels that “nobody cares any more.”
“No one’s listening because they’ve become obsessed with chasing an idea of perfection to get more likes on Instagram. It upsets me so much,” she told The Sunday Times in a new interview.
“It is devastating. If a person’s self-esteem is so bound up in how they look, it’s frightening,” the Titanic actor, 50, continued.
“And it’s puzzling because I have moments when I think it’s better, when I look at actresses at events dressed how they want, whichever shape — but then so many people are on weight-loss drugs. It’s so varied. Some are making choices to be themselves, others do everything they can to not be themselves. And do they know what they are putting in? The disregard for one’s health is terrifying. It bothers me now more than ever. It is f***ing chaos out there.”
According to The Times, Winslet singled out actors including Helen Mirren, Toni Collette and Andrea Riseborough — all of whom she stars with in her forthcoming directorial debut, Goodbye June — as well as her Avatar co-star, Sigourney Weaver, for aging naturally in the spotlight.
“We have to keep being real,” Winslet added.
After starring in Ellen Kura’s 2024 biopic about war photojournalist Lee Miller (Lee), Winslet expressed her frustration about people commenting on her appearance.
“People say, ‘Oh, you were so brave for this role. You didn’t wear any makeup.’ You know, ‘You had wrinkles,’” she explained.
“Do we say to the men, ‘Oh, you were so brave for this role. You grew a beard?’ No. We don’t.”
Winslet, who went topless in Lee, previously criticized viewers who labelled her as “brave” for filming nude scenes without losing weight. “Brave is going to the front line. Brave is being a NHS nurse during Covid,” she said.
“It’s not flipping brave to go topless or have no makeup or no Botox… That’s just being a real person.”
Non-surgical procedures, such as fillers, are rising in popularity with nearly 10,000 performed by British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) members in 2024.
Winslet is currently promoting Goodbye June, which follows four siblings (Winslet, Collette, Riseborough, and Johnny Flynn) when their mother’s (Mirren) health takes an unexpected turn just before Christmas, forcing them to confront messy family dynamics in the face of possible loss.
“It is hard to talk about loss and grief, whether it's happened to you or not. It is something that ultimately does happen to us all. What I hope is that it opens up a conversation that people might otherwise struggle with,” Winslet told The Independent at the film’s London premiere this week.
Goodbye June premieres December 24 on Netflix.
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