Kate Winslet made the press rounds this week for her two Oscar-bound flicks and we were there to hear what she had to say.
Kate Winslet made the record books in 2007 when she became the youngest actress in Hollywood history to receive five Oscar nominations. Not a bad honor to have, but it’s understandable that she’d rather have a little gold man on her shelf instead. She’s got two chances to finally snag her long-awaited statue this year, with lead roles in Revolutionary Road and The Reader, which are both in the thick of this season’s Oscar race. In Road, the 33-year-old actress plays a disaffected suburban housewife in ’50s-era America, whose relationship with her boyish husband (played by Leonardo DiCaprio, making this their first onscreen pairing since Titanic) is quickly hitting the skids. The Reader, meanwhile, casts her as a working-class woman in post-World War II era Germany who enters into a brief, torrid affair with a teenage boy. Years later, long after their relationship has ended, the kid learns that his lover worked for the SS during the Holocaust. Part of playing the Oscar game is making yourself available to the press 24/7 and Winslet worked it like a pro this past week, appearing in almost back-to-back press days for both films. Some select comments from the Revolutionary Road and Reader roundtables are included below. Coolest thing about Kate? She rolls her own cigarettes with real tobacco. In front of a roomful of non-smoking journos. Now that’s hot.
On her Revolutionary Road character
“For April, it’s very clear this isn’t the life she expected for herself and her husband is then forced to question it to and its at that point that they realize they maybe they aren’t the people they were when they first met. And she ultimately is so determined to find happiness, to feel something again other than what she has, she’s prepared to risk everything in order to get that. To me, that’s a very heroic act.”
On her former Titanic star
“Leo is nicer than he was, if that’s possible; he’s funnier than he was, if that’s possible; and he’s a better actor than he was, if that’s possible. Quiet honestly, playing these characters there was a surprise everyday. I loved playing some of the difficult scenes with Leo, knowing that because of the trust we have, there were no boundaries. That was a real gift for us as actors. I had to stop myself from crying because I was seeing someone for whom I have so much respect doing things as an actor I have never seen him do before.”
On getting into the mind of her Reader character
“With Hanna I started off thinking there were so many ways I could research the role. The thing that was most important to me alongside memorizing the book was that I wanted to understand what it felt like to be illiterate. I needed to really explore that level of shame that Hanna felt. I worked alongside a literacy program in New York City and sat in on literacy groups. In one of those groups, the youngest member was 5 and the oldest member was 73.”
On performing The Reader’s sex scenes with her younger co-star
“In the story, the character is 15 years old, Hanna thinks he’s 17 and the actor playing him is 18. He’s a young man. He’s older than I was when I went to New Zealand and shot Heavenly Creatures for god’s sake. Someone said to me yesterday ‘Were his parents around?’ And I was like ‘For fuck’s sake–he’s not a baby!’ I don’t know what his history with relationships is, because it’s none of my business. But he knows what he’s doing!”
On her own introduction to onscreen sex
“I was 19 when I appeared in Michael Winterbottom’s Jude and I had a full-on love scene with Christopher Eccleston. I was absolutely terrified and had no idea. When I walked onto set and had to shoot that scene and realized no one was there, I thought they shut down production for the day! They even put a female boom operator on set that day to make it less ‘male’ for me. People really care about an actor’s comfort level so that you are still able to play your part.”
On having two competing lead roles in this year’s Oscar race
“I feel very proud to be a part of both of these films. It’s incredible to be talked about [as an Oscar nominee] and I hope I live up to expectations. It’s my job to make myself available to support both of these films equally. It’s a juggle because I support both of these films in equal measure. So it’s a lot packed into everyday at the moment, but it’s okay. That’s the way its going to be so just get through it.”
The Reader and Revolutionary Road open in limited release in December (December 10 for Reader; December 26 for Road) before going wide in January. Trailers below.
