Kate Winslet has revealed that she was told to “settle for the fat girl parts” when she was a child actor.
The Hollywood star is out promoting her directorial debut Goodbye June, which lands on Netflix on Christmas Eve, and her press tour has included an appearance on the legendary BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs.
In it, she told host Lauren Laverne a story about an encounter with a drama teacher in the earliest stages of her career.
“I was a little bit stocky, when I did start taking it much more seriously and got a child agent, I remember vividly a drama teacher…and she said to me, ‘Well, darling, you’ll have a career if you’re ready to settle for the fat girl parts’,” she said.
“Look at me now. It’s appalling the things people say to children,” she added.
She also spoke about how issues with gender attitudes persist in the film industry to this day, revealing some of the comments she has recently received as a first-time director.
Explaining that there is “so much we still have to unlearn” about how “we speak to women in film”, she said: “So they might say things like, ‘Don’t forget to be confident in your choices.’ And I want to sort of say, ‘Don’t talk to me about confidence,’ because if that’s one thing I haven’t ever lacked, actually, it’s exactly that. That person wouldn’t say that to a man.”
Winslet has spoken openly about how she was the victim of comments about her weight in the past. Last year, she reflected on the harm it caused her as a young actor, describing it as “absolutely appalling”, and asking, “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?”
The actor broke down in tears as she recalled confronting the individual, adding: “It was a great moment. 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 revealed that she was told to hide her “belly rolls” during the filming of the biopic Lee last year, which she refused to do.
Goodbye June stars Winslet, Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn and Andrea Riseborough as the children of Helen Mirren and Timothy Spall, as they all gather around their dying mother during the Christmas period.
Winslet is also currently starring in Avatar: Fire And Ash, which NME gave three stars and said: “The clarity, dynamism and sheer scale of the action is near enough unparalleled, and it’s hard to argue you don’t get your money’s worth. Still, Cameron is going to have to think outside the (Pandora’s) box and change the game for any future instalments.”
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