The global fame Kate Winslet earned as Rose in Titanic was accompanied by an intense and “appalling” media intrusion that left her terrified and struggling with her self-image, the actor has revealed.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Winslet described being relentlessly followed by paparazzi, having her phone tapped, and even having her rubbish searched as tabloids tried to uncover details of her diet. “It was horrific… I was terrified to go to sleep,” she said.
The scrutiny exacerbated long-standing insecurities. Winslet recalled being nicknamed “blubber” in primary school and being told by a drama teacher she would have to “settle for the fat girl parts.”
After Titanic’s release, she saw herself on magazine covers alongside “awful, terrible, actually abusive names.”
Her coping mechanisms were both communal and defiantly simple. Support came from friends and neighbors—one couple left bowls of pasta and glasses of wine on their shared garden wall. Ultimately, Winslet said, she found resilience in life’s fundamentals: “A good meal, a shared conversation, a nice cup of coffee, a bit of Radiohead and a good poo. You know, life’s all the better for those things.”
By James Kisoo
