“It was intimidation, bordering on abuse” – says Kate Winslet, choking back tears as she addresses the criticism she received about her weight at the time of Titanic

More than 25 years after the release of TitanicKate Winslet always holds back tears when it comes to humiliation, intimidation and body shaming that she experienced from the media at that time.

In an interview with 60 Minutes posted online on Tuesday, the Oscar-winning artist returned to these extremely difficult moments experienced at the start of her career, in 1997.

While discussing its role in Titanic, the 49-year-old star saw a clip from the 1998 Golden Globes red carpet where a host can be heard saying on air that the actress looked “a little melted and flowy in” her dress and that she ” needed two sizes bigger and would be fine.”

“It’s absolutely terrible,” said the star who won the best actress trophy at the 2009 Oscars for the film The reader.

“What kind of person must they be to do something like that to a young actress who is just trying to get her career going? “, she added, swallowing back tears.

When asked if she had ever confronted the press about her mean-spirited comments, Kate Winslet said she had indeed confronted some of them.

“I let them have it. I said, ‘I hope this haunts you,'” she said, adding that it was an important moment.

“It was a big moment because it wasn’t just for me, it was for all those people who were subjected to this level of harassment. It was horrible.”

In an interview she gave to the Sunday Times in 2022, Kate Winslet revealed that she was advised to stick to “fat girl” roles when she attended drama school.

Earlier this year, in an interview with Variety magazine, the director of Titanic James Cameron has deplored the treatment meted out to Kate Winslet who played Rose in the mega-success.

“Admiration is one thing, but trolling is another. People belittled her, denigrated her. It was just when the Internet was starting to take off,” he explained.

Kate Winslet also said on the podcast Happy Sad Confused by Josh Horowitz that the audience of Titanic had even used the film’s finale to make fun of his weight.

Some detractors said Rose was too big for Jack – played by Leonardo DiCaprio – to climb onto the door and survive the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

“Apparently I was too fat!” Why were they so mean to me? I wasn’t even fat,” Kate Winslet said, adding that she was then “a young woman, my body is changing, I’m trying to understand it, I’m deeply self-conscious, I’m terrified, don’t give them back. things more difficult than they already are. It’s intimidation, you know, and even bordering on abuse, I would say. »

Kate Winslet is now starring in Leea biographical film about photographer and war correspondent Lee Miller.