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Kate Winslet is a champion of women. With L’Oreal Paris’s Lights on Women Award, which celebrated its third round of short films and makers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Winslet was again afforded the opportunity to amplify women’s voices and careers. From the pool of 15 films that were selected and screened, one winner was chosen—this year Fatima Kaci and her film The Voice of Others—and commemorated with an event attended by female powerhouses like Jane Fonda and Andie MacDowell.
“What’s significant about it more than anything, I think, is that it brings female filmmakers who are emerging talent and often quite nervous, stepping into a huge industry where there are voices who are more experienced than their own,” says Winslet, who stays in touch with past winners for support and collaborative creation. “[Lights on Women finds them] coming into a shared space that feels completely celebratory, totally inclusive, and they just have that opportunity to listen to other creative voices, to experience what everyone else went through when pulling their short films together. It’s a very beautiful event.”
Throughout three decades in the industry, the actor has collected acclaim, awards, and the sort of experiences that come with being a woman in the spotlight—for better or for much, much worse. “I’m not going to lie, I’ve absolutely learned how to look after myself the hard way,” says Winslet. “What I really remember vividly is that when I did Titanic and was so thrust into the public eye, I was shocked and horrified by how vilified I was by mainstream media.” This vilification was all down to body-shaming, a normalized reality of the 1990s and 2000s and one that found Winslet hiding out for fear of the paparazzi. “I think that doesn’t happen now,” she muses. “Sure, that stuff happens on social media, amongst people and the public sharing opinions—some people just have nasty shit to say. But mainstream media behaving in these really irresponsible damaging ways—I do think that has actually stopped.”
This is likely a relief for Winslet, whose 22-year-old daughter Mia Threapleton is a rising actor herself. In addition to working together in Dominic Savage’s I Am Ruth, the mother-daughter duo recently took to the BAFTA TV Awards red carpet, each exuding the class and confidence that have always seemed synonymous with the actor. Winslet cites Threapleton and the rest of Gen Z as evidence of the evolution of both media and its influence. “They just don’t know fear when it comes to stepping out—they don’t know that bit,” she says. “They just know, ‘Yes, let’s go!’”
For Winslet, age has come with a certain amount of self-acceptance that allows her to buck negativity and embrace all aspects of herself, a feeling furthered by her role as a beauty ambassador—and an outspoken one, at that. “With L’Oreal Paris and previously with Lancôme, I have been so empowered to use my voice on the part of all women for all women,” says Winslet. “It’s been more significant in my life than I think that I even care to realize on a day-to-day level. It’s a responsibility, it’s a privilege.”
Along with a nearly vegan lifestyle (she cops to eating the eggs produced by her own chickens), Winslet finds wellness through fun times on set (she’s in the midst of filming the geopolitical satire series The Regime, which finds her cracking up mid take on a regular basis) and strong bonds with loved ones.
“I have a lot of love in my life—I’m very lucky. I have an incredible husband, my kids are great, I have a really good extended family—that’s always my touchstone,” says Winslet. “Even in the moments I think, ‘Okay, this isn’t real, this isn’t really happening,’ whether it’s walking down the red carpet at the Oscars or standing onstage and winning two BAFTAs, I still know that we’re all going to snuggle up in bed and watch movies the next day, you know? And those are the special moments that definitely keep me grounded.”