by Siobhan Synnot

ONE is a talented, down-to-earth British star with bags of confidence and a shelf full of awards.

The other is a talented, down-to-earth British star with bags of confidence and a shelf full of awards.

You might expect Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson to be bitter big-screen rivals, but the two actresses are the actually best of friends

In fact, Emma even gave Kate her biggest break, casting her in Sense And Sensibility. Kate promptly won a Bafta.

Now, at 23, Kate - whose new film Hideous Kinky is out today - looks set to eclipse the acting achievements of 39- year-old Emma. At that age, Emma was just fresh out of Oxbridge and had still to make her mark as Suzi Kettles in the BBC Scotland comedy drama Tutti Frutti.

By the age of 21, Kate - who this week revealed a cropped hair style, above - had already starred in three movies and has an Oscar nomination under her belt.

But the two seem kindred spirits, despite their different backgrounds. Both have had their style and dress sense held up for public scrutiny, both have that accent tinged with Estuary English.

And both are noted for their blunt honesty and lack of pretence.

A series of uncanny coincidences also means that, despite a 16-year age gap, they have a lot of personal history in common.

Their friendship has been tested by ex-husbands and career choices.

Now the two women talk regularly on the phone and Emma was the only celebrity face at Kate's November wedding last year.

From Kate's point of view, she has a female friend who knows exactly what it's like to a hot property actress - and the price that exacts on home life.

Kate says: "My friends and the people around me have never changed and I am immensely grateful for that."

When the pair started shooting Sense And Sensibility, both were going through difficult personal problems.

Emma was in the middle of the painful breakup of her marriage, amid rumours that her husband, Kenneth Branagh, had fallen for Helena Bonham-Carter. Kate had split with her boyfriend of five years, Stephen Tredre.

Emma and Kate moved in together, bolstering each other up through the shoot, gossiping and sharing roll- up cigarettes. A bond quickly developed.

Kate says: "Emma is incredibly down-to-earth. She is very English and clever, but she is hilariously funny and not a plummy, up-your-backside, theatre luvvy at all."

Kate's next project was a test of friendship - she was offered the role of the doomed Ophelia in the star-studded production of Hamlet, directed by Emma's ex.

Kate says: "It was totally fine. I remember when I told her I was doing Hamlet, she said 'Oh, good for you. Ken's a great director, you'll love him. He's a fabulous team leader and really funny'. It wasn't a problem at all."

Both Emma and Kate are from showbiz backgrounds. Emma's dad was Eric Thompson, who enchanted fans with his scripts for The Magic Roundabout, and her mum is Scots actress Phyllida Law.

The acting tradition in Kate's family goes back even further. Her grandparents ran a small theatre at the bottom of their garden and her uncle, Robert Bridges, sang with Tommy Steele.

Kate's next project is rumoured to be an American comedy co-starring Rufus Sewell and Miranda Richardson.

Not surprisingly, Emma Thompson is the executive producer, so it seems the Emma and Kate connection will run and run.