Kate Winslet on the two directors she “shouldn’t have” worked with
From her early breakthrough alongside Leonardo DiCaprio to her current status as a Hollywood stalwart, Kate Winslet has navigated an elegant career highlighted by various roles and fruitful collaborations. Having starred in Titanic, the first movie ever to surpass a worldwide box office gross of $1 billion under James Cameron’s direction, doors began to fly open for the young actor.
Of course, Titanic remains Winslet’s most memorable and iconic role, but her resumé boasts subsequent projects with the esteemed likes of Roman Polanski, Danny Boyle, Sam Mendes, and Woody Allen. Winset would take no acting experience for granted, but like many industry peers, she has made some decisions she wouldn’t repeat.
As one of the most successful female actors of the past three decades, Winslet sets an example for other aspiring women in the industry. Naturally, the feminist icon encountered some conflicted feelings following the #MeToo movement in 2017, during which Woody Allen and Roman Polanski were both accused of sexual misconduct. The movement was an industry-wide shakedown that exposed alleged offences among some of Hollywood’s most revered figures.
Having starred in Allen’s 2017 movie Wonder Wheel and Polanski’s 2011 movie Carnage, Winslet was compelled to comment on the allegations. “We learn, we grow, we change,” Winslet said. “I think we should all be allowed to say, ‘Look, I shouldn’t have done that,’ you know? And I think this is a huge, seismic time for all of us, where we’re aware of how many planes we take, for example, or things we have done in the past — or would go back and wish to do differently. And I just want to lead with a bit of integrity and to just be upfront and say, ‘You know what? I probably shouldn’t have done that.’ And so what I said in that Vanity Fair piece is really true, you know: I do regret it. I do regret it.”
“To be completely honest, I think as soon as I was doing press for Wonder Wheel, it just made me crashingly aware that perhaps I shouldn’t have done this,” Winslet told Variety in 2020. “But what was remarkable to me is that these are individuals who have been feted and praised and patted on the back for decades in this industry.”
While regretful, Winslet noted that, when she signed onto these projects, the directors’ reputations were mostly positive. “So by and large, it was presented to actors that these were people who it was OK to work with,” she added. “But now, of course, I feel I can just say, ‘I shouldn’t have done.’ That may well have been the case. But I shouldn’t have done. And so there you go.”
“I didn’t know Woody, and I don’t know anything about that family,” she continued. “As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false. Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director. So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that’s the truth.”
Separating the art from the artist, Winslet can still appreciate the influence of both directors but remains contrite for her association with both. Maintaining a defiant moral stance, she can still focus on the positives of these professional collaborations and cherish the experience as she continues on her path through Hollywood.
Watch the trailer for Wonder Wheel below.
