Kate Winslet Discusses the "Horrific" Body Shaming She Endured When 'Titanic' Came Out
"I let them have it. I said, 'I hope this haunts you.'"
Kate Winslet is reflecting on the "appalling" way she was treated following the success of 1997's Titanic.
During an interview with 60 Minutes, the Oscar-winner talked about how her body was scrutinized after she starred in the hit movie. "It was absolutely appalling," Winslet said, in response to commentators discussing her weight. "What kind of a person must they be to do something like that to a young actress who's just trying to figure it out?"
However, Winslet made sure that she challenged one reporter who commented on her body. "I did get face-to-face," she revealed on the show. "I let them have it. I said, 'I hope this haunts you.'"
While recalling the difficult memory, Winslet was visibly upset, and explained, "It was a great moment because it wasn't just for me, it was for all those people who were subjected to that level of harassment. It was horrific, it was really bad."
Winslet also discussed the way in which people have continued to comment on her body, which is a double standard in comparison to her male peers. "People say, 'Oh, you were so brave for this role,'" Winslet explained. "You didn’t wear any makeup. You had wrinkles.'" She continued, "Do we say to the men, 'Oh, you were so brave for this role. You grew a beard?' No. We don’t." She explained, "It's not brave. It's playing the part.”
This isn't the first time Winslet has addressed the comments she regularly deals with as a woman. Talking about her latest movie Lee, in which she plays model–turned–war correspondent Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Winslet told Harper's Bazaar U.K., "There's a bit where Lee's sitting on a bench in a bikini, and one of the crew came up between takes and said: 'You might want to sit up straighter.' So you can't see my belly rolls? Not on your life!"
Rather than being influenced by such comments, Winslet stands up to any body shaming she encounters on set or in real life. "The opposite," she explained. "I take pride in it because it is my life on my face, and that matters. It wouldn't occur to me to cover that up."
