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Kate Winslet has criticised “abusive” public scrutiny of her figure throughout her decades-long acting career.
The Titanic star, 48, who recently revealed she struggled with an eating disorder after gaining notoriety in James Cameron’s 1997 historical drama, admitted she had “never worried” about her physical appearance and had always been a “normal shape” before stepping into the limelight.
Winslet, who said her dress size had fluctuated between a size 10 and 14 while she was a teenager, expressed regret at not calling out comments about her appearance sooner and praised the body positivity movement for confronting instances of weight shaming in the film industry.
Speaking to Elizabeth Day on the How to Fail podcast, Winslet said: “Had I stood up for myself more, and been clear and called people out for abusive language, actually, it may have in turn given other actresses the inspiration to do the same.”
Reflecting on her early role in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility adaptation aged 19, she said: “I was actually little anyway. I remember having my measurements taken and the costume designer going ‘Cor! 26 and a half inch waist!
“I wasn’t even aware of what was small or a big measurement. I didn’t have a clue. But I do remember I was actually fairly petite.”
“The Nineties [were a] strange time where it was thought that women were all meant to be a certain size,” Winslet added.
“It was a really rough introduction into being famous and it put the fear of God in me. After Titanic, I made active choices to do the smallest things I could find while I was learning who I was.”
Winslet, who goes topless in her latest film Lee, which portrays the life of the Second World War photojournalist Elizabeth “Lee” Miller, criticised viewers who’d labelled her as “brave” for filming nude scenes without first undergoing a Hollywood exercise regime.
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“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.”
While filming the biographical drama, Winslet slipped and fell on her first day of filming while shooting a sequence where Lee runs down the street in the French city of Saint-Malo while it was under bombardment in 1944. She was left with four hematomas on her spine.
“I don’t want my body to break down. I don’t want to get injured,” the Revolutionary Road star said. “So, for me, exercise is not actually about looking a certain way. It’s about not getting injured.
“Because I always want to be able to hike for five hours,” Winslet explained. “And I always want to be able to give my son a piggy back even though he’s 10 and it kind of hurts now. And I always want to be able to carry my own stuff. My own luggage.
“Those things matter.”
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040
