“My life was quite unpleasant”: Kate Winslet Opens Up About Why Titanic Fame was the Worst Possible Thing
Kate Winslet is a perfect example of beauty with brains in Hollywood. The British actor became a global phenomenon with James Cameron’s romantic drama Titanic in 1998 and the rest is history. She is also known for her excellent performance in movies like Revolutionary Road, Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind, The Reader, and Mare Of Easttown.
Recently, Kate Winslet opened up on the darker side of fame that came along with the colossal success of Titanic.
Kate Winslet Believes Titanic Fame Was The Worst Possible Thing That Happened To Her
Titanic broke all the box office records and went on to make Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio global stars. During a recent interview with Porter Magazine, Kate Winslet reflected on the post-Titanic fame she was subjected to. The English actor revealed that her life had turned unpleasant due to the over-the-top media intrusion.
“I felt like I had to look a certain way or be a certain thing. And because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant.”
According to the Academy Award-nominated actor, her life as a celebrity was miserable after coming into the spotlight due to Titanic. She further added-
“Journalists would always say, ‘After Titanic, you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’… and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your f—in’ life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible.’”
The 48-year-old actor was just 22, when she played the role of Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic. While talking about experiencing fame at a very young age, Winslet said-
“I was grateful, of course. I was in my early 20s, and I was able to get a flat,” Winslet said. “But I didn’t want to be followed literally feeding the ducks.”
Post Titanic she had wanted to go ahead with small-budget projects and looked forward to exploring common roles. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 1999. Kate Winslet had mentioned-
“After Titanic, I did want to do something that was smaller and completely different,” she explained. “It was very important to me to let people know that I wasn’t just going to ride on the crest of the wave forever and just do lots and lots of Hollywood movies. And I didn’t want any of my fellow Brits to go, ‘Oh, thanks Kate Winslet for just bypassing all the British movies.’”
Titanic dominated the Academy Awards in 1998 and went on to amass a staggering box office collection of $2. 26 billion against the production budget of $200 million.
Read Also: Kate Winslet’s Titanic Role Was Ripped to Shreds by One French Director Who Called Her ‘Unwatchable’
Kate Winslet On Her Bond With Her Titanic Co-star Leonardo DiCaprio
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio met each other on the set of Titanic in 1996. The talented actor duo share a great rapport with each other. According to an interview with Entertainment Tonight in December 2023, The Reader actor spoke about her bond with her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. She said-
“Once I started working with Leo, we were able to kind of find our own rhythm. And it’s amazing to kind of look back and think about it all over again. He was this kind of mess of long, skinny, uncoordinated limbs. And he was just very free with himself, and he had this effervescent energy that was really magnetic. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, this is gonna be fun. We’re definitely gonna get along.’ And we just really did. We just really did.”
While talking about bonding with The Aviator star, Winslet reflected-
“He was then very, very smart, very, very curious. So he was really fascinated with the period, the details to do with the boat, the lower classes, where those people had come from, how those people had paid for their tickets. That sense of focus on the craft and still really caring deeply about that to this day.”
Post Titanic Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio came together for Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road in 2008. The Titanic pair never misses out on a chance to speak about each other and tell the world how much they love and adore each other as friends.
