Actress Kate Winslet recalled a time earlier in her career when her agent would receive calls from producers asking them to check on her weight.
She was also advised to settle for "fat girl" roles while she was an aspiring actress studying theater.
The Academy Award-winning actress known for her roles in Titanic (1997) and Sense and Sensibility (1995) told the Sunday Times:
“When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, ‘How’s her weight?'"
In addition to being body-shamed in the tabloids, she was also ridiculed early in her career by celebrities like the late comic legend Joan Rivers who once claimed:
"If Kate Winslet had dropped a few pounds, the Titanic would never have sunk."
Winslet—who also won an Emmy award and a SAG Award for Best Actress in a miniseries for HBO Max's Mare of Easttown (2021)—said she eventually was able to move on from worrying about her weight, and was more concerned:
“about being that actor who moves their face and has a body that jiggles.”
She went on to discuss having a hard time dealing with what tabloids used to say about her weight.
"It was hard enough having the flipping 'News of the World' on my doorstep, but that doesn’t even cut it now."
"That phrase about ‘today’s news being tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’ doesn’t exist."
She also touched on how the way she was judged back then is different from what women face on social media today.
Said Winslet of online engagement:
"It can be extremely negative. People are subject to scrutiny that is more than a young, vulnerable person can cope with."
Winslet cautioned up-and-coming actors to be mindful of any erratic behavior as it could catch up to them.
“The thing you did when you were drunk or foolish? It may come back to haunt you."
"Needing to be on one’s guard for young actors is just a different thing. It must be extraordinarily hard.”
But she is happy to see how things have slowly started to improve in the industry and referenced her 22-year-old daughter as an example.
"It's heartwarming that this has started to change."
"My daughter's generation has an ability to speak for themselves. They have already learned that they will be heard."
"Obviously not in every situation, but they know how to use their voice — especially young women. That's striking to me."
"When I was younger you spoke when spoken to. That is not the case now."
"Young women are stronger. And they're prouder of their bodies."
Winslet recently reunited with her Academy Award-winning Titanic director James Cameron after 25 years for Avatar: The Way of Water.
She said her experience working with Cameron again was "absolutely amazing."
Speaking to Deadline during the Avatar sequel's premiere on the red carpet, Winslet said of the famed director:
“He’s so good at pulling the actors together and letting them figure it out."
“If something doesn’t work, he’ll say, ‘OK, let’s do something else.’ And so, that sense of collaboration was amazing and actually, I think probably more so than I had anticipated.”
The official U.S. release date for Avatar: The Way of Water is December 16, 2022.
