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Kate Winslet’s rise to global stardom may have looked like a dream from the outside, but the reality behind her breakthrough role in Titanic was far more harrowing than anyone knew.
In back-to-back interviews, the Oscar-winning actress peeled back the curtain on what life was really like after her face became instantly recognizable across the world - from brutal tabloid bullying to phone tapping and body shaming.
And through it all, it was one thing that helped her stay grounded: motherhood.
During an emotional appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, Winslet recalled how starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic didn’t just launch her career - it sent her life into total chaos.
“I didn’t want to be famous,” Winslet admitted.
“I really didn’t. I know it sounds so daft, but it’s not necessarily an easy path to walk and to stay sane and to hang on to your sense of self and who you are. And my whole world was totally turned upside down through being in Titanic.
"I have, of course, so much to be grateful for and the experience of making the film was incredible. But I wasn’t ready for that world.”
She was just 21 years old when the film, released on December 19, 1997, shattered box office records and became the highest-grossing movie of all time until James Cameron’s Avatar surpassed it in 2010.
While the role demanded physical endurance - “They got me a personal trainer and I’ve never had a personal trainer since,” she said, though she added: “But I actually loved the discipline of it” - the psychological toll was far greater.
Winslet, who was already struggling with body image issues, was suddenly under a microscope.
“[They] started calling me awful, terrible, actually abusive names,” she said of the British press.
“Going into shops and asking shopkeepers what I’d bought. Going through my [trash] bins to look for my shopping receipts to figure out what diet I was on or wasn’t on.
"It was an utter disgrace and shame on every single one of them. And thank God they don’t do that now.”
With the tabloids camped outside her home and cameras trailing her every move, Winslet said she lived in constant fear.
“That was horrible. I just felt like I couldn’t walk down the street without seeing myself on the cover of The Sun or The Daily Mail or The News of the World. It was horrific.
"There were people tapping my phone. They were just everywhere. And I was just on my own. I was terrified to go to sleep… It really was quite scary.”
At one point, Winslet thought she could return to her “normal life” after the film wrapped, but instead, she was thrust into a relentless media storm.
Fortunately, a close circle of friends and protective neighbors helped shield her from the worst of it.
“I had someone looking after me and it meant the world to know that someone was there,” she said.
The invasive press attention followed her into adulthood, including during her 2010 divorce from filmmaker Sam Mendes.
“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,” she remembered.
“You just keep your mouth closed, you put your head down, and you keep walking. And you try and put your hands over your children’s ears. You lean on your friends, you just keep going.”
Winslet later credited one major force for helping her survive the emotional rollercoaster of fame: becoming a mom.
"I was very fortunate because I became a mother when I was really young," she shared during a recent appearance on the Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso podcast.
"I was, you know, blessed to be taking care of this gorgeous little baby."
Winslet had her first child, Mia Threapleton, in 2000 at age 25. She later welcomed Joe Anders in 2003 and Bear Blaze Winslet in 2013.
The demands of parenting offered a powerful shield from the noise of public life.
"I found it quite distressing," she said of the paparazzi frenzy. She revealed that the experience made her “really self-critical” and that there were days she felt she “couldn’t face the day,” but added, “being a mother saved” her.
Her two oldest children have since joined the entertainment industry, with Joe Anders even writing the script for Winslet’s directorial debut, Goodbye June, which hit select US and UK theaters on December 12 and drops on Netflix on December 24.
The Christmas-themed film stars Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, Helen Mirren, and Winslet herself.
