♪♪ Come with me.

Narrator: Catapulted to global fame at the age of 22 by the success of "Titanic," Kate Winslet shows fierce determination in her acting choices.

♪♪ [ Knocking at door ] You ready, April?

It's time.

Thank you.

♪♪ Narrator: Challenging social pressures to conform... Where's Mum?

...the English actress favors characters in search of freedom.

Fix it.

What the... Fix it, Steve!

Take it easy.

Fix it or I quit.

How about that?

I quit and you never see me again.

How about that?

Narrator: For three decades, she has been blazing her own trail... You lost an eye.

Narrator: ...following her own rules.

Oh, Nicky.

Narrator: In more than 40 roles at the cinema and on television, she gives life to a wide range of psychologically complex women with realistic bodies, offering an unfiltered, unaltered model.

Holy [Censored].

Let's go.

Let's go.

Bye.

When I was only 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might do okay if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts.

Wow.

Look at me now.

[ Laughter ] Look at me now.

♪♪ ♪ Play croquet Croquet, croquet ♪ ♪ It's such a lovely day for ♪ Narrator: At the age of 11, Kate Winslet appeared on stage as the Ace of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland."

Although she didn't play the lead, her dedication and focus was already clear.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪ I wanted to act.

That was what I always thought when I was little and just wanted to have fun doing it, and I didn't know how things would work out, but I remember really dreaming about that.

But more than that, I didn't think at all.

Narrator: The aspiring actress grew up an hour from London in a working class district of Reading in the county of Berkshire.

Throughout the '80s, as elsewhere in Great Britain, the people there were faced with the harsh reality of Margaret Thatcher's liberal reforms.

Where there is doubt, may we bring faith.

And where there is despair, may we bring hope.

[ Shouts and protests] In this dramatic social context, affected by rising unemployment, the Winslet family struggled to make ends meet.

Roger, the father, was a down on his luck actor, hunting for roles and working odd jobs.

Sally, the mother, looked after their four children while doing extra work at weekends in a restaurant.

♪♪ But even if the Winslet's were not rolling in money, their passion for the theater passed down from generation to generation, kept them happy.

Everybody, I mean, everybody did it.

And because I had grown up with it, I sort of -- I just knew it was what I would end up doing.

But more than that, it sort of wasn't a huge deal.

It was just a job.

And I wanted to be part of that world.

♪♪ Narrator: The young Kate could count on the unwavering support of her parents.

At college, she enrolled in a private school for budding actors.

There, she learned the basics of acting, singing, and dancing, as well as experiencing what it's like to be in the limelight.

I was a very stocky child and was definitely an overweight teenager, actually.

Were you bullied at school?

Because -- Yes I was.

Yeah.

And what, called names?

I was called Blubber.

Blubber.

And they put me in the art cupboard and called me Blubber.

♪♪ Narrator: A victim of bullying at school, she also had to face the prejudices of casting directors.

Wrong hair, big feet, wrong face.

Too ordinary.

Not right.

Don't fit.

Next!

And I was the W in the alphabet.

But I stayed focused until W was called out and it was my turn.

"Kate Winslet, are you ready?"

Narrator: With her legs deliberately wrapped in tight fitting leggings, Kate Winslet wanted to remind young people that her calling was more powerful than humiliation or self-doubt.

After two years of chasing castings and failure after failure... As someone once said, never listen to what people tell you, only what you tell yourself.

Narrator: In the end, her determination paid off.

She landed the role of a red haired, mouthy teenager in the TV series "Dark Season."

How do you do?

Where's Marcie?

Late.

Marcie's always two minutes 30 seconds late, precisely.

How do you do?

Yes, yes, come on, we're late.

Narrator: At 16, Kate left school for good and got a part time job to pay for her trips back and forth to London, hoping to get her big break.

Susan, are you on?

On what?

No, I mean have you started yet?

Started what?

Are you stupid or something?

She's asking if Arsenal were playing at home.

Well, I don't know, I hate football.

Oh, God, don't you speak English?

Have you got the painters and decorators in?

Have Russia invaded the South, you know?

Narrator: At the age of 17, her life was about to change when she finally received her first film script.

Kate: I was working at the time in the delicatessen in Reading.

We had to drive to pick up the script because it might get lost in the post.

I remember saying to Dad, "Oh my God, Dad, it's an audition for a film.

Wow!

Oh my God, do you think, like, I might get it?"

And he just looked at me and he said, "Yeah, you will."

Narrator; The audition was for a role in "Heavenly Creatures."

To capture the madness of her character, the young actress went against expectations of playing a princess, shaking things up in Peter Jackson's office.

the director was impressed.

He selected her from 175 other hopefuls.

[ Telephone ringing ] And the telephone rang.

I don't know what it was, but there was something about the way the telephone rang that day that I went, "It's for me!"

And I knew that it was.

I was like, "Oh my God!"

And I stopped.

I was literally mid making sandwich.

I'm like... And sure enough, the lovely guy Chris, who used to own the deli, "Kate."

"Yes?"

"Phone for you."

"Okay.

Sorry, I'm just -- I'm just -- sorry."

And just left this sandwich.

Ran to the phone, and it was my child agent at the time who said, "You clever girl."

And I left the sandwich, and I left work, and I went home on the bus and told everybody that I'd got this part.

♪♪ [Giggling] Aah!

[ Both scream ] [ Splash ] Narrator: Throwing herself completely into the role of Juliet, Kate Winslet explored her character's wildness with complete freedom.

[ Both singing ] [ Opera music ] In her first role, she gave us a glimpse of the extent of her talents.

[ Screaming ] Charles!

Charles!

Charles!

♪♪ ♪♪ She didn't try to be photogenic, but rather to embody the truth of her character.

Only the best people fight against all obstacles in pursuit of happiness.

Narrator: In this film, based on a true crime that made headline news in the 1950s... Juliet.

...the young actress, went all out.

[ Girls screaming ] ♪♪ And as I'm cranking through these pages, June the 18th.

June the 19th.

June the 20th.

June the 21st.

Oh, God.

I might not find anything.

June the 22nd, Parker-Hulme murder.

I'm like, oh my God, it's really there.

It's really real.

And we wrote about it in this country.

♪♪ I love being in things that are based on a true story.

I think probably because of my experience of "Heavenly Creatures," which was so life changing, I cannot even tell you.

Narrator: Two years later, the teenager of "Heavenly Creatures" had become a young woman.

I don't think I could -- I don't think I could live as a star.

No?

[ Laughter ] ♪♪ Narrator: The excellent reviews that accompanied the film's release gave her wings.

♪ O softly ♪ With her porcelain complexion and perfect elocution, the young actress had all the hallmarks of a classic English rose.

Producers of "Sense and Sensibility" immediately thought of her for a small part.

At the audition, Kate Winslet tempted fate.

She pretended to have been asked to prepare scenes for a much bigger role, that of Marianne Dashwood.

Her audacity paid off.

"No voice divine, the storm allay'd, No light propitious shone."

Narrator: On the set, surrounded by the finest actors, she was suddenly filled with self-doubt.

Could she really capture the impetuous, passionate young woman as imagined by Jane Austen?

"No voice divine, the storm allay'd, no light propitious shone.

When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,.

We perish'd, each alone."

Can you not feel his despair?

[ Sighs ] Try again.

Marianne, my darling!

Narrator: Director Ang Lee promised her she'd be even better the next day.

So, drawing on her vulnerability, she fueled her performance as a passionate believer in the power of love.

To love is to burn, to be on fire like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise.

They made rather pathetic ends, dear.

Pathetic?

To die for love?

How can you say so?

What could be more glorious?

I think that may be taking your romantic sensibilities a little far.

[ Both laugh ] Narrator: With her own sense and sensibility, she proved at the age of 20 that she could compete with the greatest English actors of the moment.

[ Cheering ] And you have a Kate Winslet page on the internet.

[ Laughs ] Oh my God.

"Heavenly Creatures" or "Sense and Sensibility" or General Kate stuff.

So scary.

I mean -- I mean, somebody's got all this information on me.

Oh my God, what kind of stuff is -- Oh, how amazing!

[ Exclaims ] You have thousands of fans... I think I'm gonna give you that back.

...around the world.

Oh, God!

And you obviously, you haven't seen that.

No, I mean, you know, it's like.

I mean, I really think that nobody really knows who I am.

I mean, honestly, that is what I think.

I mean, I don't know whether that's true or not.

I certainly think in England it is, I mean, I'm not the kind of person who walks down the street and gets recognized.

I have never been recognized.

which is fantastic.

[ Excited screaming ] Narrator: In just her second feature, she notched her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Thank you very much!

Oh, this is so embarrassing.

And Hilda, my agent in Los Angeles, phoned me and she just went, "Congratulations" and I went "Aah!"

I just started screaming, and then I just went, "I've got to phone my mum!"

♪♪ Narrator: After Jane Austen's Marianne, she played Ophelia in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and Sue in Tom Hardy's "Jude the Obscure."

These three parts, adapted from literary classics, cemented her reputation as the English rose.

So much so that she earned the nickname Kate Corset.

♪♪ Now she had to find a role that would open up new horizons for her.

[ Ship's horn blows ] So why not an American Rose this time?

♪♪ She was deeply moved by the "Titanic" screenplay, but she knew the director was looking for the new Audrey Hepburn, a graceful young woman with a slim figure and a delicate demeanor.

How do you do?

Narrator: Convinced James Cameron would never invite her aboard, once again, she took matters into her own hands.

I wouldn't let Jim -- I wouldn't let him off the hook.

I mean, I remember endless telephone calls to him sometimes when he was in his car, saying, "Just let me show you that I really feel that I can do this."

And I think he sort of thought, "You know, this is a bit of a, a bit of a tough cookie."

And I'd ring him up sometimes and pretend to be American, you know, 'cause I knew that I wanted him to overcome that hurdle as well.

I didn't want anyone to be afraid of casting an English person in such a role.

Narrator: James Cameron eventually invited her to Los Angeles for an audition.

Hello, Jack.

Hi.

Narrator: The screen test in costume with set design didn't destabilize the young actress.

Could I speak to you?

Yes.

Of course.

That'd be great.

Narrator: Her metamorphosis into Rose dispelled all the director's remaining doubts.

Rose.

Narrator: She was born to embody the feminist revolt of the "Titanic"'s heroine.

She knows.

Who thought of the name Titanic ?

Was it you, Bruce?

I wanted to convey sheer size.

And size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength.

Do you know of Dr.

Freud, Mr.

Ismay?

His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you.

Excuse me.

Kate: Here we have a very, very strong young woman living a life that did not allow women to be strong.

And she was.

I mean, I certainly hope that that's what comes across on screen 'cause that was what I was aiming at.

And, you know, women were brought up to be the China doll and she wasn't going to be that.

56 carats, to be exact.

♪♪ Narrator: She shined as a Boston aristocrat trapped in a forced marriage, emancipated by her first great and liberating romance.

When the ship docks -- I'm getting off with you.

This is crazy.

[Laughs] I know.

It doesn't make any sense.

[ Lively music playing ] ♪♪ Jack!

No!

Narrator: The chemistry between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio created one of cinema's most iconic love stories.

The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a porcelain doll.

As a paying customer... ♪♪ Narrator: Freer, more determined, more physical, Her performance stood in stark contrast to the classic incarnations of romantic heroines.

♪♪ Finally, rid of her corset, nothing seemed able to stop her, not even the freezing cold water.

[ Ship creaking ] Jack!

Narrator: She rewrote the rules of romance.

[ Ax strikes, Rose shouts ] [ Both laugh and cheer ] You did it!

Come on!

Kate: Her strength, her determination, her inner passion, things that I just always relate to because I think it's, it's something that I have in me and I'm a very kind of outdoors wind-in-my-hair sort of a girl.

I never got discouraged because I had so much sort of belief in it.

I mean, we all did, but Leo and I particularly were, you know, adamant that this love story was going to be the thing that made people connect with this film.

You know, to us, it was never about a sinking ship.

It was never another Titanic movie.

And we believed that if we really stuck together, we could make people forget that it was, you know, the Titanic .

Oh, God!

Hold on!

Narrator: After seven months of filming in difficult conditions and at a hellish pace, the actress who celebrated her 21st birthday on the Titanic , left the ship gasping for breath.

Take a deep breath when I say.

I remember people saying to me before the film came out, "Oh God, how are you going to cope?

You know, your life's going to be, you know, how are you going to not change?"

And I would get, I would feel almost defensive and angry.

I'd think, you know, "I'm not going to change.

What are you talking about?"

Narrator: A few months before the film's release, Kate Winslet had no idea of the tidal wave about to hit her, and nor did the rest of the world.

Nicky, she's gone brilliant and she's brilliant.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ In fact, it was wrong.

♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: "Titanic" was crowned the greatest success in the history of cinema.

♪♪ An overnight superstar, in the eyes of the international public, Kate Winslet became inseparable from the iconic Rose.

♪♪ As a guest on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," she exaggerated the part of an ordinary girl.

Hi, Kate!

Hello!

How are you?

I'm a smoker!

[ Laughter ] There was a little smoking going on, But it's all right.

You're a grown woman, you're of age.

You're British.

[ Laughter ] And nothing really prepares you for that.

No one really can tell you about what to expect because it's so sort of unknowable and so weird.

♪♪ For the tabloid press and its readers, in total disarray since the death of Princess Diana six months earlier, the arrival of a new English celebrity was a godsend.

[ Paparazzi chattering ] The thing I've had to adjust to this year is lots of paparazzi outside the house and things like that.

Actually, outside your house?

Oh, absolutely.

You know, lots of them.

So if you're going to bring in the milk or whatever you do.

Well, yeah.

I mean, you know, I pop over the road for a paper and a pint of milk and they're there snapping away.

I think, hang on a second, I've just -- haven't even brushed my teeth yet.

[ Paparazzi clamoring ] Narrator: On catwalks, supermodels dictated the most recent fashion trends.

The image of model Kate Moss, nicknamed "The Twig," established extreme thinness as the new standard of beauty.

No wonder the sudden appearance on the red carpet of Kate Winslet's curves created a stir.

Her hips, her chest, and her weight were scrutinized, commented on, and criticized to the point of mass obsession.

Lady over there.

There's been lots of pictures of you in the paper recently talking about weight fluctuations.

Is that true, Kate?

What?

Weight fluctuating how?

Well, there's been sort of comparison pictures of like, before "Titanic," at "Titanic," afterwards with sort of weight fluctuations.

Aren't we all sick of the weight thing?

Yeah.

You know, we're all sick of the weight thing.

I'm a normal human being.

We all go up and down, you know?

And just because I'm an actress does not mean I'm going to look like a stick.

I'm healthy, I exercise, and that's, that's the way I see it.

You know, the weight, the weight stuff that goes on in the papers just makes me ill.

Because there are so many young girls out there whose minds are being so messed up by this.

And I just think it's really upsetting and it should just stop.

Narrator: The media's relentlessness reached a climax.

Was there enough room for two people on the door at the end of "Titanic"?

The actress's supposed extra kilos were now being blamed for Jack's death.

♪ And it's up she goes ♪ ♪ Up she goes ♪ Kate: If I could turn back the clock, I would have used my voice in a completely different way.

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.

[ Crowd chatter ] Narrator: In 1998, how she would have wished to have the wisdom of the woman she is today.

But she would have to be patient and wait another 20 years before women's voices began to be heard.

It's an extraordinary event.

It's -- it's quite unlike nothing else in the world.

It's amazing.

It's early here in Los Angeles, and people are just waking up to the 70th annual Oscars ceremony.

They've come to see their favorite stars.

And of course, to find out who's going to walk away with those golden statues.

The nominees have arrived Kate Winslet, Helena Bonham Carter, and Dame Judi Dench.

Narrator: "Titanic" was a triumph, winning 11 Oscars.

But that night, the moment's most sought after leading lady went home empty handed.

Unsurprisingly, the studios wanted to put her on a diet and cast her in romantic comedies.

But like Rose surviving the sinking of the Titanic , Kate Winslet resisted the siren call of Hollywood.

She said no to the sky high salaries, to the star system, and to the dictates of thinness.

[ Jack laughs ] Bye!

♪ To make it enough for you to be open wide ♪ ♪ No ♪ Narrator: At just 22, she made the wise decision to forge her own path and headed to New Zealand, where the independent filmmaker Jane Campion was waiting for her.

♪ And I'm here ♪ You know, I want to wind up like Judi Dench, who is incredible and has been working for so many years, doing so many different things.

And I would love to have a career like that.

And I really believe that the only way to do that is just to absolutely love it.

I really love acting.

Just really, absolutely love it.

You do, don't you?

I do.

And I get such a kick out of it.

And I'm afraid that I, you know, my -- I can't be sort of twisted into doing these really, really big numbers because as fantastic as "Titanic" was, you know, those types of films are exhausting.

And I'd never say that I wouldn't ever do it again.

But sometimes the independent ones are more, more challenging, really.

I told you.

Don't you ever touch me!

My body is mine -- honey!

You're a prick.

You know, you'd be better off crying.

[Censored] you!

[Censored] you!

Narrator: In "Holy Smoke!

", she played a far more ambiguous woman than the one who made her famous.

[ Scoffs ] "Be kind."

I'm constantly trying to like the characters that I play and want to make them loved by the audience.

And I have this big problem with, um... with making a character sort of unpleasant in any way 'cause I think, well, then no one's going to like her.

No one's going to like the performance because she's not particularly nice.

And to sort of give in to the fact that sides of this girl really needed to be pretty mean and manipulative was kind of a step forward for me.

[ Snickers ] Now you think it's funny to insult me, then I think you're a cruel and stupid young woman!

Look, I'm here, Okay?

No.

All right!

Narrator: In a stifling and intimate setting, Ruth stands up to Harvey Keitel, 35 years her senior, and deconstructs his character's toxic masculinity.

Okay, Tampax tool.

[ Laughs ] I'm gonna give it to you right up your [Censored] Hm?

All this man-hating [Censored] for a start.

"Oh, she criticized me.

I'll call her a man hater."

You look lovely.

Hm.

Sexy.

[ Door creaks and slams ] Ruth!

Narrator: She dared to do what few actresses had accepted before her, full frontal nudity.

A camera angle that doesn't lie.

Don't you talk.

My God, I feel as if I'm gonna split into pieces.

Narrator: Kate Winslet made nudity a committed cinematic act, a rallying cry for women who recognize themselves in her.

[ Both laughing ] ♪♪ [ Laughing ] And when she agreed to embody a male fantasy, she did so with panache.

♪ Do you love me the way you hold me?

♪ ♪ 'Cause you hold me like you love me ♪ ♪ Is it only a lovely dream ♪ ♪ Or can I dream of a wedding day?

Believe me, when those scenes come round, every single shot that is done during the day, I see it afterwards and I'll say, "No, that's -- I really am not happy with that."

It's not so much happy with the way that I look or anything like that, but it's just if it's too much and it doesn't, it's not necessary, then I would say, "No, I want," you know, "I want us to do it again and change that around."

Narrator: The media, for their part, continued to focus on her figure, vying to control it.

In 2003, Kate Winslet took the magazine GQ to court.

At issue was this photo, in which she appeared edited to give her hollow cheeks, a flat stomach, slimmed thighs, and longer legs.

I think I was just stretched like that.

Um, but, er... You know, it isn't fair when it suggests that a person looks away that they don't.

And also, it just goes against my own personal principles.

So I do, erm... I do sort of wave my real flag maybe a little bit too much, but -- Well, you see, it's -- I'm afraid I'm going to keep on waving it.

♪♪ Narrator: After experiencing the radical cinema of Jane Campion, she continued her acting classes and hunted without success for roles to match her talent.

How would her career have turned out if French outsider Michel Gondry's madcap and irresistible proposition hadn't arrived just at the right moment on the eve of her 30th birthday?

I don't know!

Nothing makes any sense to me.

You're not getting old.

Nothing makes any sense.

Who am I?

Narrator: For the first time, an ultra modern character, Clementine, gave her the chance to display her full explosive range.

Jim Carrey was also cast against his more typically screwball type.

No jokes about my name.

Oh, no, you wouldn't do that.

You're trying to be nice.

I don't know any jokes about your name.

♪ Oh my darling, oh my darling, Oh, my darling Clementine ♪ Oh, hey!

Take care, then.

Jesus.

Michel had the guts to cast me, the classical, you know, English rose, whatever, in this totally different, diverse role.

And so I was, you know, I was -- Ready to go.

I was ready to go.

"Bigger, bigger, do it bigger!"

the whole time.

And I, and I just -- and for whatever reason, I just thought, well, you know, I've just got to trust him.

Otherwise, I'm not doing this properly.

Clem!

[ Muffled ] [ Muffled ] Narrator: In front of Gondry's inventive, expressive camera, the actress cast off the stereotype of the ideal woman.

You like?

[ Laughing ] Oh!

If you want to be with me, you're with me.

Okay.

Narrator: In response to GQ magazine, she established her own definition of femininity, one that is synonymous with freedom regardless of one's appearance.

No!

I'm sorry, Joel.

Joely.

Shut up.

Look!

Joel!

Joel, look!

What?

Look where we are.

Woo-hoo!

Oh, no.

[ Paparazzi clamoring ] Narrator: Nominated for a second Oscar for Best Actress, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" marked her comeback to Hollywood.

♪ In a winter wonderland ♪ A decisive turning point in her career that cleared a path to American independent cinema.

♪ He sings a love song as we go along ♪ ♪ Walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪♪ Having just turned 30, the actress began a new chapter.

She explored more mature, less glamorous roles of suburban American housewives.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ In several films and a mini TV series, she demystifies the figure of the Desperate Housewife.

And what's your name, miss?

Mildred Pierce.

[ Rock music plays ] ♪♪ ♪ Mildred Mildred ♪ ♪ I got a job I got a job, yeah ♪ Kate: Sometimes those are the richest and most interesting characters to play.

And guess what?

Half the time they're just normal women.

It didn't happen.

All right?

Hm?

Narrator: Did she question the female condition because of how her own body had been viewed and discussed in the past?

Or was it the experience of marriage and having children that sparked her interest in playing mothers?

♪♪ Married at 23, a mother at 25, divorced and remarried two years later, a mother again at 28.

She said "I do" a third time in 2012 and gave birth to her third and last child at 38.

♪♪ In Todd Field's "Little Children," she explored the professional and personal frustrations of housewives.

Sarah, a lonely 30-something, is dealing with a failed marriage and her lack of maternal instinct.

Alright, you know what?

It's okay.

See for yourself.

[ Children laugh ] Wait.

Narrator: To escape her isolation, she looks for a way to exist beyond the school gates.

♪♪ You want to go in the pool?

Yeah, you do?

Okay.

I've been there.

I've been that person.

I've felt emotionally stifled, like she feels in this film.

And it was hard to sort of revisit some of that stuff in myself.

But she doesn't conform.

She doesn't change herself or adapt herself in order to fit in more.

She just remains who she is.

She is a woman who was a feminist when she was younger.

She's very feisty.

You imagine that if she weren't leading the life she's leading that she would have probably been some great philosopher or adventurer of some kind.

In her own strange way, Emma Bovary is a feminist.

Oh.

That's nice.

So now cheating on your husband makes you a feminist?

No, no.

No.

It's not the cheating.

It's the hunger.

The hunger for an alternative and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness.

You feel alive.

Yeah.

That's good.

That's how you're supposed to feel.

[ Laughs ] Narrator: Kate Winslet was not interested in happy endings, but in exposing the violence of alienating lives.

[ Crying ] It's okay.

Mommy.

What are you doing?

April!

Narrator: The actress continued her exploration of inexpressible female malaise, this time in the 1950s through the disintegration of a couple.

She was the driving force behind the film "Revolutionary Road."

You're sick.

I really mean that.

You're sick!

And do you know what you are?

What?

You're disgusting!

Oh, yeah?

You don't fool me, Frank.

Just because you got me safely in this little trap, you think you can bully me into feeling whatever you want me to feel?

You in a trap?!

Yes!

You in a trap!

Jesus Christ!

Me, Frank, me!

Don't make me laugh!

Narrator: Even more than in the dialogue scenes, it is when she listened that the actress so accurately revealed April's existential crisis.

Such as this moment when, hidden behind her sunglasses, she realizes her husband will never go through with changing his life.

Frank: Well, it would be funny if they weren't offering so much [Censored] money.

♪♪ Friend: So are you tempted?

Frank: Well... It's just kind of ironic, don't you think?

♪♪ Narrator: Her long silence has become a hallmark of her performance.

All right, John, let's get on out to the car now.

April.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Oh, right!

Sorry!

Why the [Censored] are you married to me?

Narrator: Faced with a threatening DiCaprio, she pitied silence against physical tension.

You're not worth the trouble it would take to hit you.

Narrator: My body, my choice.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Choir singing ] It's not until "The Reader" that the actress first took on the role of a monstrous woman whose Nazi past is only revealed in the second half of the film.

But I did know that if an audience were to sympathize with Hanna Schmitz at any moment, that that -- and as a consequence, they would feel morally compromised because they felt sympathy towards her.

That, to me was potentially interesting.

I have to stick to my guns about who I think she is.

And so sometimes I wouldn't share my opinions with even Stephen Daldry about her.

Do you know what you'd like?

Erm... What are you having?

You order.

I'll have what you have.

Kate: Understanding the illiteracy world was really crucial because the sense of isolation had to be apparent in her.

[ Laughing ] Emptiness is so different from coldness, you know, you can be empty, but you can still love somebody.

But at the same time as showing the love that she had for Michael, I couldn't ask for an audience's sympathy because that would have been wrong.

[ Laughing ] You look ridiculous.

Look at you, kid.

Narrator: Playing opposite a cultured teenager, the experienced actress maintained her ambiguity without ever losing her way.

"Lady Chatterley felt his naked flesh against her as he came into her.

For a moment, he was still inside her."

This is disgusting.

Where did you get this?

I borrowed it from someone at school.

Well, you should be ashamed.

♪♪ Go on.

♪♪ Narrator: To capture the complexities of Hannah's character, she drew on her mastery of micro-expressions.

My -- my handwriting?

Yes.

I need to establish who wrote the report.

Narrator: In a few successive shots, Kate Winslet managed to convey the vulnerability, incomprehension, and shame of not knowing how to read or write.

♪♪ There's no need.

I wrote the report.

♪♪ Silence, please.

Order!

It was such a heavy, difficult role to play, that emotionally cost me quite a lot.

I think probably more than any other role I've done before, and it took me a long time to kind of just unravel myself with it.

You know, I don't want to run the risk of sounding like, you know, actory stuff, but it really did kind of take a toll.

The lady with the little dog.

You know, I did actually feel for her.

I felt desperately sorry for her.

I really, really did.

I didn't forgive her.

I didn't like her all the time.

But I did feel deeply sorry for her.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

The lady with her little dog.

Narrator: Shot back to back, "Revolutionary Road" and "The Reader" were both in the running for an Oscar.

Could the actress finally win the award?

Somebody in America said to me the other day, they said, "So let me ask you, how would it feel to be the most nominated loser?"

[ Sobbing ] Director: Cut!

Christ, that is bloody hot.

Four years before the Oscars, her compatriot, comedian Ricky Gervais, had already turned it into a satirical TV sketch.

You doing this is so commendable, you know, using your profile to keep the message alive about the Holocaust.

My God, I'm not doing it for that.

I mean, I don't think we really need another film about the Holocaust, do we?

It's like, how many have there been?

You know, we get it.

It was grim.

Move on.

No, I'm doing it because I've noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust -- Guaranteed an Oscar.

I've been nominated four times.

Never won.

The whole world is going, "Why hasn't Winslet won one?"

Yes, yeah.

That's why I'm doing it.

"Schindler's-bloody-List," "The Pianist" -- Oscars coming out of their [Censored].

♪♪ Narrator: On February the 22nd, 2009, tensions ran high on Hollywood Boulevard.

♪♪ Kate Winslet finally won the Oscar for Best Actress and she celebrated in her own way.

Dad, whistle or something 'cause then I'll know where you are.

[ Whistle ] Yeah!

[ Cheers and applause ] I love you.

♪♪ Reporter: You were just a little girl from Reading.

So just tell me how this little girl from Reading feels tonight.

You know.

Like a little girl from Reading.

[laughs] Like a little girl from Reading.

Did you see my mum and dad?

My mum won a pickled onion competition in their local pub just before Christmas, and, you know, that was a big deal.

[ Laughter ] And the Reading Evening Post sent me a picture of her holding up her jar.

Well, Reading Evening Post -- there's your next Winslet picture.

[ Laughter ] ♪♪ More than just an award, the Oscar represented a crowning achievement.

in her own words.

From then on, Kate Winslet now felt like a fully fledged actress capable of playing anything.

[ Metal banging ] I'm back, you bastards.

Oh, I'm an investment broker.

This is what I think!

♪♪ I'll never make that mistake again.

Narrator: A true chameleon, the star has appeared in all kinds of films.

In Hollywood, she was also one of the first of her generation to take a stand against Botox and the frantic pursuit of eternal youth.

Your Majesty.

All roses are open to the elements.

They bud, bloom, and fade.

And although the elements may treat her cruelly, she continues to her end without judgment on her beauty.

Alas, it is not the same for us.

Narrator: Kate Winslet didn't wait to be granted permission to age on screen.

She took it herself.

Kate: I've had three children.

I am who I am.

I have the wrinkles and crinkles that exist on my face.

I really felt privileged not to hide any of my true self.

♪♪ ♪♪ Reporter: Are you sorry, Harvey?

♪♪ ...came in from West Virginia.

Time's up!

Time's up!

Time's up!

Things are changing.

I think that we are seeing gender parity is getting better.

And it's events like this that will really keep bolstering that and really highlighting the work and the achievements of women, which is equal, if not better, to the boys sometimes.

And it's just a different gaze.

It's a female gaze.

[ Waves crashing ] Narrator: In 2019, at the age of 44, she took on the role of paleontologist Mary Anning in a biopic that gave her the chance to play a woman of her age with frankness, and to call out the invisibility of women as men take credit for their discoveries.

Man: Hm.

What is it?

See here.

This is a row of small vertebrae, but these ones have a certain shape, which tells me they would have been near the skull.

And that's good?

It would be very good.

Yes.

Narrator: Motivated by her desire to explore new fields, she took up director Francis Lee's radical challenge.

Kate: No happiness, no sadness, no tears.

You know, and those are two emotions that actors really do lean on quite a lot.

And they're certainly emotions that I am no stranger to in my career and also in my life.

So learning how to use up anything in between those two very powerful emotions was, was very new for me and really very odd.

We had to plan and choose these very sparse moments of real relief and emotion.

Because we didn't have the objectification of women in any way in our film.

For me, it was almost like a breath of fresh air.

You know, there was no leader.

Narrator: It was a wake up call for the actress, prompting her to reconsider her past experiences.

I found myself sort of feeling a bit frustrated with myself and how perhaps I maybe haven't quite used my voice fully in the past, even though I feel I have.

I have never felt forced to do anything.

I said yes to that.

I said yes to that.

Yeah, I did agree on that.

Mm, but they did shoot me by that flattering light by the window to make my body look a certain way.

And actually, the way I looked in that scene perhaps did objectify me.

And we didn't have any of that in "Ammonite."

And that, for me, was new.

It was really new.

Narrator: In agreement with the director and in close collaboration with her co-star Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet choreographed their love scenes to offer a different perspective.

[ Moaning ] If more than a century separates "Ammonite" from the mysterious, worn down police officer of "Mare of Easttown," the two roles share the same quest for feminine authenticity.

And it starts from the moment she first reads the script.

The original description of Mare in episode one, Mare, tall, athletic, with a crop of short brown hair.

And I was like, tall?

Me?

No.

Athletic?

No.

I'm more doughnut-like.

And -- And I just didn't think that the short hair was quite right.

I felt it might make her a bit too sort of sharp or cold looking.

You know, we wanted to keep it really real.

Narrator: Playing a mother and detective, her character carried the emotional burden of her home life and responsibilities of work.

She had no choice but to fight on all fronts.

-Hey.

-Hey, Mare.

How's your morning going so far?

Great.

I just, uh, wasted the last half hour picking out an aquarium for the turtle you and Drew brought home yesterday.

Um, I wanted to let you know that last night, Faye and I, uh.

-Well, I asked Faye -- -Frank, I -- 75-51 Del-com.

I got eyes on the burglary suspect.

Freddy!

♪♪ Narrator: For six episodes, the actress gave a masterclass in the ordinary, establishing Mare as one of her most emblematic roles.

Any periods of depression?

[ Scoffs ] Yeah.

I mean, there are times, you know.

Narrator: She turned this woman, at once strong and lost... Where were you last night?

...into a modern, middle aged heroine, perfectly imperfect, with whom most women can identify.

The fact that I can't even remember how many should tell you all you need to know about what it meant to me.

[ Mare laughing ] Can we -- um... Can we go somewhere else?

Yeah.

Oh, wait.

Hold on.

Narrator: Broadcast during the pandemic lockdown, the series rekindled Kate Winslet's popular success... [ Gun firing ] ...reaching audiences who may not have seen her on screen since the phenomenal success of "Titanic."

Give it up for Mare Sheehan!

[ Cheers and applause ] Kate: As a woman in the film industry in her mid-40s now having been doing this job since I was 17 years old, I'm being given that space to fully embrace all of these changes that life's years have left me with, and that seems to be being celebrated because of "Mare."

You know, hopefully other women may feel that they can go a bit easier on themselves as a result 'cause frankly, it's just real.

♪♪ Narrator: Rarely has an actress so consistently and confidently held up such a precise and realistic mirror to the condition of women.

Rarely has an actress been so determined to offer a positive image of her body.

For 30 years, Kate Winslet has been imposing her vision on cinema as if the female gaze came directly from her.

Oh fuck it!

Mom.

What do you think?

I thought you were wearing the red dress with the thing.

I tried.

Didn't work.

No, no, no, no, no.

Go, go -- go back and try the red dress again.

[ Knocking at door ] He's at the door.

Mom.

Oh.

Oh, well, in that case, you look great.

♪♪ ♪♪ I bless you all.

And I bless our love always.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪