Kate Winslet reveals how her life changed after the mammoth success of the 1997 film Titanic. For those unversed, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet headlined James Cameron’s epic romantic film, Titanic. The pair played star-crossed lovers, Jack and Rose, who belong to different social classes and fall in love during the ship’s ill-fated maiden voyage.
Kate Winslet talks about post-Titanic fame
Kate Winslet details post-Titanic fame as “horrific” in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs on December 21. Winslet shared, “There were people tapping my phone. They were just everywhere. And I was just on my own. I was terrified to go to sleep.”
The 50-year-old actress described the post-Titanic fame as “appalling” as she dealt with intrusive media coverage and reporting. She admitted that people went to shocking lengths to invade her privacy. People rummaged through dustbins, “try and figure out what diet I was on or wasn’t on” and even asked local shopkeepers what kind of stuff she purchased.
Winslet recalled that when Titanic was released, she wasn’t in “particularly good shape”. She couldn’t mentally handle the intense media attention. Her world was “totally turned upside down” once the film hit cinemas. “I wasn’t ready for that world,” she said.
The Mare of Easttown star disclosed she had previously dealt with severe body image issues as a young girl, and how it took a toll on her. Once Titanic was released, magazine covers splashed Winslet and DiCaprio’s faces across newspapers and magazine covers. The 50-year-old recounts that “awful, terrible, actually abusive names” accompanied the magazine covers.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Winslet revealed that she had to deal with intense media scrutiny when she divorced her second husband, Sam Mendes, in 2010.
She remarked, “I was being followed by paparazzi in New York City with my two small kids, who wanted to, of course, know the reason why Sam and I had split up.”
When asked about her coping mechanism, Winslet simply replied, “a good meal, a shared conversation, a nice cup of coffee, a bit of Radiohead and a good poo.” She added, “Life’s all the better for those things.”
