The movie’s the thing, not the review
December 21, 2006
By Jamie Portman
It says something about the kind of person Kate Winslet is that she rarely reads what’s written about her.
She simply lacks that kind of curiosity. And that probably is a healthy sign that she will not so soon fall prey to narcissism.
For example, there are those glowing notices she received for her performance in Little Children as a wife and mother who embarks on a torrid affair with a neighbour. They’re the kind of notices that inevitably lead to Oscar speculation.
But Winslet, who has already received four nominations for her work in films as different as Titanic and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, finds herself pleasantly surprised to be told that she’s once more under Academy Awards consideration.
“The first thing, I’d say, is that I haven’t read any reviews, so I’m blissfully unaware,” she responds. “I don’t tend to read reviews. It’s just part of how I go about life.”
But, of course, to be the focus of Oscar talk yet again is exciting. “It means a lot to me, and I do take it seriously. Of course, I do. I’m an actress trying to do the best job I possibly can, and when you get that kind of pat on the back from the industry - I mean, it’s the biggest awards ceremony in the world!”
The 31-year-old English beauty recently opened in The Holiday, her first true romantic comedy and an assignment that initially scared the daylights out of her. But she wants to make it clear that she takes every acting job seriously. She puts all her “heart and soul” into films, although she admits Little Children was “a very difficult part for me to play and a difficult film to make in the sense that the subject was tough and the story was hard.”
Yet, it was not difficult enough for her to start wondering what critics thought of her. It was the same with All The King’s Men, the disastrously received new film version of the Robert Penn Warren novel about a Southern political demagogue.
“I honestly think I’m quite relaxed about the way films are received, because, to me, it’s about the work and it’s about the moment and about the making of the film and what that feels like. It’s also how I feel about the film once I see it - and, you know, I just feel proud of all those things.”
Yet the fate of All The King’s Men - as critically derided as it had been eagerly awaited - remained a blank slate to her, until reporters insisted on filling her in.
“I genuinely don’t know how All The King’s Men did at the box office or how it was reviewed. I promise you I don’t know because I don’t look at that information. And I feel that if I did start absorbing that information, then I would suddenly be taken out of myself and I wouldn’t just be concentrating on my job anymore.”
This comfortable sense of self-worth and security isn’t that common with stars of Winslet’s calibre. Perhaps it stems from the security of her private life - her home in England, her marriage to director Sam Mendes, her children.
In Little Children, Winslet plays a mother in emotional flight from a family she loves. In The Holiday, she’s a young British journalist in flight from a disastrous love affair in London: she ends up for the holidays in Los Angeles, having exchanged her cozy Surrey cottage for a luxurious Brentwood house belonging to Cameron Diaz in the role of a Type A-personality advertising executive who also wants to escape a love affair turned sour.
Both young women end up rediscovering romantic love: for Diaz, it’s Jude Law in the role of a handsome young publisher; for Winslet, it’s an eccentric film composer played by Jack Black.
The real Kate Winslet can’t imagine herself wanting to run away from anything.
“I’ve got my kids and my husband and there’s absolutely no reason why I would ever want to get away from them.”
And anyway, she says she has never been the sort of person who runs from problems.
“It would take a lot, I think, to make me feel like I wanted to run away and hide somewhere.”
She prides herself on being an actress who can delve into the psyche of anyone she plays. But The Holiday at first scared her because it took her into new, uncharted territory.
“It was wonderful working with Jack. These little romantic moments between us were incredibly sweet and enjoyable - and also nice for me as well. But this was a whole new genre. I’d never made a film like this before and I really embraced it … playing this sweet, lovely, charming, grounded, honest woman. It was such a pleasure.”
The real challenge of The Holiday stemmed from the fact that she was portraying a contemporary young Englishwoman for the first time.
“I’ve done a lot of period English films, but never a contemporary person. I’ve done it in American films, but this was new to me. And actually, I did not like the feeling initially.”
Winslet, as a young Englishwoman herself, suddenly felt curiously exposed - unable to “hide” behind a wig or an accent or a strange costume.
“This was me - and my hair and my voice and clothes that I would choose to wear - and there was something oddly intimidating about that, and it took a little bit of getting used to. It was definitely harder than I thought.”
She says there’s always “a level of fear” about playing any new character, but she suggests that’s part of the territory. “But I suppose I was surprised at how nervous I was, playing an Englishwoman.”
Writer-director Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, What Women Want) helped give her the confidence. Furthermore, Winslet quickly discovered that The Holiday was more than just another chick flick.
“You know, the subject of love is endless. It’s absolutely endless, and it can be the most glorious thing in the world, but it can also be the most shattering thing when you’re in a situation like my character is in, when you love someone who doesn’t love you back. So … in a way, I sort of relate to all of them.
“That’s what Nancy Meyers does brilliantly - she constructs these stories that have characters in them that make us feel as though we’ve been that person or that we’re friends with that person.”
In a sense, Winslet finds it odd that she’s even here talking about movies at all. Coming from a family of actors, she knew from childhood that this is what she wanted to do.
“It was a kind of in-the-blood thing. There was absolutely never any question in my mind that this was what I wanted to be.
“But I never expected to be in films. That’s not what acting was in my family. Acting was all about struggle and doing theatre. … So the fact that I ended up being in movies is something I’m constantly amazed by.
“I’m very surprised. And very, very grateful. I mean genuinely, genuinely grateful that I get up to do the thing I love and play so many different parts.”
The Holiday and Little Children are in theatres now.
Source: The Gazette (Montreal)
Posed in: News > Movies > Little Children > The Holiday
