Kate Winslet has been an actress for three decades. She has been in more than 40 movies, has seven Oscar nominations, and one win, and absolutely no process as an actress.
Variety sat down with the star, who said: “It’s really interesting how every single job I do I feel like it really is different each time.”
Her latest role is a woman who is constantly breaking apart in Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel. Winslet plays a deeply troubled housewife in the 1950s Coney Island. She has an affair with a lifeguard (Justin Timberlake) under the nose of her husband (Jim Belushi). Winslet originally wasn’t sure if she could play the role when she first read the script but after signing on spent a summer rehearsing alone.
At one point during a shoot, Allen told her that she was “too actressy.” Winslet asked what she should do, and Allen responded, “You know what to do. Don’t do anything. Do it better.” Winslet was so focused on the role that she had trouble sleeping and found she had to do difficult yoga classes to clear her head.
Winslet is facing backlash for agreeing to work with Allen, who has been accused of sexual assault by his daughter Dylan Farrow in an open letter released in 2014. Recently, three decades worth of sexual assault, harassment and rape allegations have come out against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, whom Winslet had worked with. She released a statement condemning Weinstein. Amazon, which is releasing Wonder Wheel, has also found itself in the middle of a controversy. The studio’s president, Roy Price, resigned Oct. 17 among allegations of sexual misconduct, reports Variety.
When asked by Variety about whether the allegations against Woody Allen factored into her decision to star in his new film, she said, “It’s just a difficult discussion. I’d rather respectfully not enter it today,” according to Variety.
Winslet did discuss women in Hollywood and said that there aren’t enough roles for women. She told Variety that “it’s about joining forces and buddying up.”
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