Scans and article thanks to Vampire Maiden.

Now she's got her man Kate Winslet can't wait to be a mum...

Life has changed dramatically for Kate Winslet since she shot to fame two years ago in Titanic. The 24-year old, who had already made a name in Heavenly Creatures and won a BAFTA for Sense And Sensibility, is now a fully-fledged international celebrity, a married woman and soon, she hopes, she'll also be a mum. But Kate insists that fame hasn't altered her that much. She's still essentially the same gil who grew up in a terraced house near Reading Football Club's ground with her parents, two sisters and brother--all performer, although none as famous as Kate.

"It's a job to them," she says of acting. "So They don't put me on a pedestal. There are four kids and we're all treated the same--I honestly don't know where I'd be without them." It's just over a year since Kate married Jim Threapleton, 25, and without a doubt, she's broody already. "I want three of four kids," she confides. "I adore babies and children and can't wait to be a mum. I'm determined to become a young mother because my own experiences of being a child and a teenager will be fresh. I want to be able to share that with my children and have more of a friendship as opposed to a parent/child relationship.

"Then when I reach 25 or so, my child will be about 20 and be able to go off and start their own life and I'll go off and have a great time all over again." Kate met JIm, an assistant movie director, on the set of Hideous Kinky which was filmed in Morocco. "It was instant chemistry," she says. "It was so sudden--I had no doubts about him. Well, hardly any. When I first saw him in the desert with his blue eyes and fair hair, I thought of Lawrence of Arabia. He makes me laugh my head off. But we haven't had enough privacy."

They're now decorating Kate's flat in Holloway, north London. Their only separation to date was for four months while she was working on her latest film, Holy Smoke, in India and Australia. "Yes, the parting was hard to bear. We phoned all day and all night. I'd love to repeat the Paul and Linda McCartney situation where they spent, I think, about three nights apart over a 20-year period. It's a pity, but we're never going to be able to do that."

She admits that marriage has definitely been good for her. "I think if anything I've chilled out because of my wonderful husband. I used to worry so much a think, 'Oh God, I need a full face of make-up on in case there's a photographer outside.' But I now accept me as me, and Jim loves me for me--it's brilliant."

As a teenager, Kate went through many a crisis over her weight, which wasn't helped by unkind criticism in the Press. "Kate's put on weight!" and 'Winslet's weighty problems' are just some of the tabloid headlines she's had to put up with. "It's said that a lot has been written about my weight. If I'm seen as fat, what are girls who are the same size going to think? They'll start staving themselves. "I'm healthy and I'm proud of how I look. You know, I am who I am. I'll never be a stick insect and I wouldn't want to be either, because a lot of very thin people are just unhappy."

Although at ease with herself nowadays, in her teens Kate admits she went 'to hell and back' over her weight. At secondary school her nickname was 'Blubber'. 'I was a very chubby child, like a tank, and I got much fatter in my teens. I was bullied for it - lots of children were mentally cruel and I couldn't handle it. By the 13st which at 5ft 6in is a lot of weight to carry.' Kate eventually joined Weight Watchers and slimmed down to 9 and a half stone within a year. But then she took it further..'Looking back I know I was bordering on anorexia. The feeling was so seductive. I remember lying in bed at night not having eaten anything since the morning, feeling really pleased that my stomach was rumbling and getting some kind of thrill out of feeling my bones sticking out. I was lying there thinking: I'm concave, how lovely.'

But Kate says she doesn't starve and binge anymore. She admits Weight Watchers has been invaluable in helping her eat properly and lose weight sensibly. 'Believe me, it's still a thrill to be able to sit in front of the telly without hugging my stomach.'

Kate isn't a vain person, nor is she neurotic over her image. In fact, she's been accused of dressing like a bag lady. 'I couldn't give a hoot how I look. I'm not the kind of person who spends ages doing their hair and make-up - I get up and out I go.' Kate also makes a virtue out of her ordinariness, refusing to join private gyms, for example. 'I prefer public baths - where I can swim in granny snot and toddlers wee. Sometimes I think I should be going out getting drunk and doing drugs, but that's not me either. I do feel much older than I am.'

In Holy Smoke, released next month, she plays a girl who falls for the leader of a cult. She stars opposite Harvey Keitel, with whom she shared a love scene. 'We had a real laugh doing it,' she smiles. 'The director Jane Campion and I rehearsed it first, Jane playing Harvey's role. Then Harvey and I rehearsed it wearing track suits, after which we got down to it in three takes. Jim and I had been apart for four months, but he arrived in Australia in the same week I did that scene. It didn't bother him in the least - we could smile about it. The point is, a marriage is based on trust and if you have that, then you have everything.'