Courtesy of New York Post
Written by Howard Feinstein

Gushing about his "Holy Smoke" co-star Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel sounds like a proud daddy. Which he could be, since he is more than twice her age (23) and, in this film by Aussie Jane Campion, ends up being a sort of father figure lover. "I have a great deal of admiration for Kate," says the TriBeCa resident. "Instead of going for a great deal of money after Titanic, she chose two films with personal journeys." (They are "Holy Smoke," about an extended encounter between a beautiful Australian cult member and a middle-aged American deprogrammer and "Hideous Kinky.") "That is the journey of an actor. She symbolizes the quest not for money, but for discovering who we all are together."

For her part, Winslet seems happy with the direction of her career. Energetic and looking trim in a black pantsuit, she says she's satisfied with the parts she's taken since working with director James Cameron and Leonardo DiCaprio on their big moneymaker. "I've been acting since I was really young," says this native of Reading, England. "It's my chosen career. I feel really good about my decisions since Titanic. These other films have inspired me to make choices based on character and story and not size of budget and the studio behind it. "I'm sure I'll probably do another big Hollywood film, but it's more important to do what I care about. I like not to know what a movie's budget is. We felt like we had the world to ourselves in Holy Smoke. "After making Holy Smoke (which opens in New York on Oct. 22), Winslet began shooting filmmaker Philip Kaufman's Quills, playing the asylum-bound Marquis de Sade's "naughty, cheeky" laundry maid, in London. "It's nice to be back in that British film environment, doing an ensemble film," she says. "I get up, go to work, Jim [her husband] cooks dinner, I go to bed. "I feel really settled at the moment. I feel my age. I feel like a nice, normal 23-year-old who's having a good time.