Magazine admits airbrushing Winslet
January 9, 2003

The editor of a UK men's magazine has admitted its cover photograph of actress Kate Winslet was airbrushed to improve the image.

GQ editor Dylan Jones said the 27-year-old Titanic actress had approved the photographs, but that they had been "digitally altered".

Winslet's agent told BBC News Online the star approved the original photos - but was not consulted about the digital changes.

She "has done many magazine covers and knows that once you've done the photos it is out of her control", said her agent.

"Once you shoot them, the magazine has them and can do what they will with them, and the actor is really not part of that approval process."

Winslet - famous for defending the appearance of fuller-figured women - has hit headlines in recent years not only for her acting, but also for the fluctuations in her weight.

In an interview accompanying the photoshoot, however, she questioned the attitudes of women who equate sex appeal with being thin.

She said: "What is sexy? All I know from the men I've ever spoken to is that they like girls to have an arse on them.

"So why is it that women think in order to be adored they have to be thin? I just don't understand that way of thinking."

She added: "I'm certainly not a sex symbol who doesn't eat."

Mr Jones said her appearance had been altered "no more than any other cover star".

"These days you only get two kinds of pictures of celebrities - paparazzi pictures or pictures like these which have been highly styled, buffed, trimmed and altered to make the subject look as good as is humanly possible," he said.

"We do that for everyone, whether they are a size six or a size 12. It hasn't a lot to do with body size. Practically every photo you see in a magazine will have been digitally altered in this way."

He said Winslet had not been drastically slimmed down in the photos.

"I interviewed Kate six weeks ago and she was thinner than I had ever seen her, petite and very sexy," he said.

"These pictures are not a million miles away from what she really looks like."

Winslet, soon to be seen in new film The Life Of David Gale alongside Kevin Spacey, was picked on at school for being overweight and was nicknamed Blubber.

She said: "I'm completely physically comfortable with who I am and I have no particular issues any more and I don't feel I have to run around waving my flag about the female body any more."

Weight loss

Winslet lost four-and-a-half stone following the birth of her daughter Mia in 2000.

She attributed the weight loss to a facial analysis diet which prescribes an eating plan based on complexion and facial features.

The following year she split from husband Jim Threapleton and later became involved with director Sam Mendes.

Source: BBC News

Kate loses her curves
January 9, 2003

By Tim Cooper, Evening Standard

Kate Winslet was once as well known for her voluptuous curves as her Oscar-nominated acting roles. And she still loves to speak out in defence of the larger woman. But in her latest photo shoot for a men's magazine, Ms Winslet appears to be turning into the Incredible Shrinking Woman. Looking thinner than ever, she sports a sleek new hairstyle accentuating previously unseen cheekbones, noticeably smaller breasts, a pert bottom, slender legs and an implausible washboard stomach.

And the reason? Digital trickery by staff at GQ magazine. Editor Dylan Jones admits the shots were "digitally manipulated" after they had been taken, making her look more slender than she really is.

He said: "Kate saw the pictures before publication and loved them. Various parts have been improved, including her stomach and legs. As far as I remember she was aware of the alterations. I'll be very surprised and a little disappointed if she is anything other than completely happy. I don't think we've gone too far - I think she looks magnificent."

Ms Winslet's New York publicist, Robert Garlock, confirmed the actress had approved the photos before publication. He said he was aware the photographs had been altered but said they only made the actress look more fantastic than she does at the moment. "She has lost quite a bit of weight," said Garlock, who also represents Calista Flockhart and Uma Thurman. "She has been working hard and looks fantastic."

The photograph is a far cry from the young actress who graced Titanic, and she looks even thinner than a year ago, when she appeared at the Oscars having lost four-and-half stone following the birth of daughter Mia.

At the time she said: "I don't want to lose any more weight. I'm there now." But the 27-year-old's appearance has undergone a major makeover since she split from husband Jim Threapleton and moved in with film director Sam Mendes.

Still, in the GQ interview Ms Winslet says: "What is sexy? All I know from the men I've spoken to is that women think in order to be adored they have to be thin. Very thin. I just don't understand that way of thinking."

Jones confesses that such digital trickery is commonplace in glossy magazines. "Almost no picture that appears in GQ - or any other magazine or newspaper - has not been digitally altered in some way. They are all tidied up a bit," he said.

"Agents and publicists have much greater control over the image rights to their clients, so they want to make sure they are seen in the best possible light."

But other editors say they would not have gone so far. Damien Foxe, of fashion organ FHM Collections, said: "It's true pictures are routinely manipulated but we'd never alter the body shape of a woman. Kate is an icon for women who want someone more realistic representing them. However I'm sure her market value in America will increase."

Evening Standard Life & Style editor Liz Jones, a former Marie Claire editor, said the only time she changed a body shape was to make Renee Zellwegger fatter: "She'd lost loads of weight after filming Bridget Jones and was positively skeletal.

"The amount of computer enhancing and body part swapping now is taking it all a bit too far. I'm always surprised when meeting famous women in the flesh - they look nothing like their glossy image.

"It's about time women were told about these tricks of the trade. We feel bad enough about our bodies in January without being made even more depressed."

And sometimes such digital "improvements" backfire. After Mel B approved a bikini-shot for the cover of Loaded, the lads' magazine airbrushed it out and covered her most sensitive parts with a swarm of bees.

The singer was reported to be furious.

Source: This is London