Kate Winslet gracefully endured criticism about her body in the early days of her career and often had to speak up for herself. Now, she says she’s thrilled to see that more and more young female actors aren't afraid to take on their critics.
The star stopped by Studio 1A on Feb. 26 to chat about her new role in the HBO series "The Regime," and TODAY's Hoda Kotb pointed out that Winslet has always been a "champion for women."
"But you didn't lead your career that way all the time because you were like a lot of young actresses," Hoda noted, acknowledging that Winslet rose to fame during a time when female stars weren't encouraged to be outspoken.
“It’s really interesting how much it has changed,” the 48-year-old replied. “And I think about the moments I did have to kind of say, ‘Well look, I’m going to be myself. And I have curves. And this is who I am.’”
Winslet went on to explain that “fat-shaming” was relatively common “back in the day” and noted that she's happy to see the tides have turned.
“That has changed. And it’s changed because young women now, they’re born with a voice. They have a voice, they’re learning how to hang on to it, they stand up for themselves,” she said. “They know that they matter. They count for something. They’re great together.”
Fat-shaming hasn't simply disappeared, but Winslet said she's thrilled to see that young female actors are better equipped and supported when they do face adversity now.
"It's an exciting time, I think, for younger actresses to be coming into an industry like this one, which is huge. But to feel held, supported, nurtured, it's changed so much. It's wonderful," she said.
In 2021, Winslet spoke openly about the body criticism she experienced around the time that she starred in the '90s film "Titanic."
“I was subjected to quite a lot of personal physical scrutiny, and I was criticized quite a lot. The British press were actually quite unkind to me,” she said during an episode of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast.
“I felt quite bullied if I’m honest,” she continued. “I remember just thinking, ‘OK, well, this is horrible and I hope it passes.’ It did definitely pass but it also made me realize that, if that’s what being famous was, I was not ready to be famous, thank you. No, definitely not.”
The following year, Winslet appeared on an episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast and spoke about the way her body was a hot topic in the media, specifically after her scene on the door in the water with Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack in "Titanic."
“Why were they so mean to me? They were so mean. I wasn’t even f------ fat,” she said.
Looking back on the experience, Winslet described what she would have wanted to say to her critics.
“I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, ‘Don’t you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is.’ That’s bullying, you know, and actually borderline abusive, I would say,” she said.
Winslet has aimed to pass her body positivity on to her daughter, Mia Threapleton, who was born in 2000, and spoke about the lessons she was teaching the then-teenager in 2015.
“When I grew up, I never heard positive reinforcement about body image from any female in my life,” she said during an episode of “Running Wild with Bear Grylls." “I only ever heard negatives. That’s very damaging because then you’re programmed as a young woman to immediately scrutinize yourself and how you look.”
“And so I stand in front of the mirror and say to Mia, ‘We are so lucky that we’ve got a shape. We’re so lucky we’re curvy. We’re so lucky that we’ve got good bums,’" she continued. "And she’ll say, ‘Mummy, I know, thank God.’ It’s working, that thing that I’ve been doing. It’s paying off.”