It was the end of 1997, already December, when
Titanic
was released .
Some young actors, far from being stars, walked excitedly along the red carpets presenting her.
They were the British Kate Winslet and the American Leonardo DiCaprio, who would become, beyond the sunken ship, the soul of a gigantic film that has raised more than 2.2 billion dollars and has become an icon of popular culture.
James Cameron's film was a milestone since its release, and launched the two young people to stardom.
She was 22 years old, he was 23. They became poster figures that lined the rooms and folders of teenagers around the world.
And that was not easy to digest.
In fact, “it was horrible,” as Winslet has now revealed in a new interview.
The actress, 48, has grown professionally and has been able to diversify her career since then, but leaving the role of Rose DeWitt Bukater, the capricious rich girl who fell in love with the homeless artist Jack Dawson on board the luxury liner, It was not easy.
In a chat with the fashion magazine
Porter
, Winslet notes that her eldest daughter, Mia Threapleton (the result of her relationship with British film director Jim Threapleton) is already 23 years old, older than she was when she filmed the film that launched her into the mainstream. fame;
In fact, she turned 21 while filming.
“Now it's different.
Mia is very self-possessed.
Young women today know how to use her voice.”
She, on the other hand, did not have it so easy in the late nineties.
“I felt like I had to be a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because the intrusion by the press was so powerful then, my life was quite unpleasant,” she admits.
More information
James Cameron, on the filming of 'Titanic': “Kate Winslet came out a little traumatized”
“Journalists always told me: 'After Titanic, you could have done anything and you chose to do these little ones...'.
And I was like, 'Fuck, you bet it is because, guess what, getting famous was horrible.'
She was grateful, of course.
It was when she was in her early twenties, and I was able to get an apartment.
But she didn't want to be chased when she was literally feeding the ducks,” she admits.
In a podcast interview a few years ago, she recalled what that media harassment had been like and feeling “intimidated.”
“I immediately went into self-defense mode because, day and night, every day, I was the subject of enormous personal and physical scrutiny.
"They criticized me a lot, the British press was actually quite cruel to me," she explained then, at the beginning of 2021. She also stated that she saw herself as too young and inexperienced to be able to deal with that level of fame, but also to accept important jobs. in Hollywood: “I was still learning how to act and I felt like I wasn't ready.”
Now, Winslet has 70 projects in her portfolio as an actress, but in 1997 she had only done a dozen, although not inconsiderable: from
Heavenly Creatures
, by Peter Jackson, to
Sense and Sensibility
alongside Emma Thompson to being Ophelia in
Kenneth Branagh's
Hamlet
. .
But nothing comparable to the immense fame she achieved thanks to James Cameron's
Titanic
.
According to her, it was after her marriage to Threapleton and having her daughter Mia in 2000, and focusing on caring for her, that this persecution began to cease and the media observation seemed to be more bearable. .
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“It's a ridiculous word!” she responds when asked about fame today.
“I carry it very lightly.
It's not a burden, not anymore.
Titanic
continues to bring joy to people.
The only time I say, 'Oh, God, hide' is if we're on board a ship."
In fact, she claims that she doesn't regret any step in her career, nor does she envy anything, there is no role she wishes she had done.
"I've been excited for the person who did it: 'Yes, you did it!'
There are no regrets.
None.
I don’t think that way,” she reflects.
Winslet – who in March will release
The Regime
(HBO), in which she plays a dictatorial political leader – has also spoken with
Porter
about her close relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom she has a long friendship.
She, who does not have social networks (nor do her older children) did not know that common
meme
in which DiCaprio is seen looking at her enraptured, at one or more awards ceremonies and that says: “Have someone who looks at you like Leo looks at you.” “Kate.”
No, she had never seen it and she burst out laughing when questioned about it.
“It's because she knows I can see through all this,” she says.
“I think when you experience something so seismic, being so young... The truth is that we both went through all of that together,” she acknowledges.
And, as he has said on other occasions, “all that” was not enough.
“If I look scared, cold and exhausted in the movie during the sinking scenes it's because I really was scared, cold and exhausted.
After three months, I felt physically swollen, bruised, and alone without my family.
I had to keep thinking to myself, 'You wanted this, now just move on,' she told the
Los Angeles Times
shortly after filming, and then went years without speaking about it again.
The Oscar winner for
The Reader
has acknowledged that recording
Titanic
was a traumatic experience, and she even stated: “They would have to pay me a lot of money to work with Jim again,” in reference to James Cameron.
It took 25 years to do it again.