Kate Winslet’s natural beauty radiates both on and off the screen. In a newly published interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the 48-year-old actress shared a story from the set of her upcoming film, Lee, in which she plays model-turned-war photographer Lee Miller. While filming, Winslet revealed her authenticity was challenged—and opened up to the outlet about how she stood her ground.
Winslet revealed that she intentionally stopped exercising before starting to work on the war film to achieve an “authentically soft” look. However, a crew member’s comment during one of the scenes took her by surprise: “There’s a bit where Lee’s sitting on a bench in a bikini,” Winslet recalled. “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! It was deliberate, you know?”
When asked if she minds looking “less-than-perfect” on screen, Winslet proudly responded, “The opposite. 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,” she said.
That same commitment to authenticity extends beyond her film roles and into her everyday life. Winslet’s self-acceptance is evident in her approach to aging. “I think people know better than to say, ‘You might wanna do something about those wrinkles’,” she told the outlet. “I’m more comfortable in myself as each year passes. It enables me to allow the opinions of others to evaporate.”
Winslet also expressed relief that many women today are accepting of themselves and rejecting judgment, like her. Reflecting on her past, she told the outlet, “I don’t know a single contemporary of mine who grew up seeing her mother looking in the mirror and saying: ‘I look nice!’ My mother never did: it was always, oh God, I don’t think I can wear this, do I look hippy, does my bum look big? We waste so much time being down on ourselves and I’m just not doing it ever again.”
Despite occasional challenges, Winslet remains grateful for the inspiring women around her. “I’m very fortunate to be in an industry where there are so many wonderful older actresses who are absolute role models. I really value that – and I quietly hope that I might be in that pocket for some people as well.”
