Kate Winslet on her “bitter regrets” of working with particular individuals
Since her iconic turn in the 1997 James Cameron-directed flick Titanic, Kate Winslet has been regarded as one of the finest actors of her generation. With her gritty performance in 2021’s Mare of Easttown, it’s not hard to understand why.
Winslet possesses a sharp dramatic perception and can convey a wide range of emotions, a skill which has allowed her to star in an array of coveted films ranging from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to The Reader. One of her most recent celebrated roles came in 2017’s Wonder Wheel; however, proceedings were not straightforward for Winslet, as the film was by the controversial auteur Woody Allen.
At the time, Winslet came under fire for working with the writer/director who has been mired in the claim that he molested his daughter Dylan Farrow since the early 1990s, amongst other things. Duly, Dylan Farrow has been critical of actors working with her father, and her open letter published in The New York Times in 2014 made her thoughts very clear.
Then, three years later, in December 2017, the Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece by Farrow, in which she called out Winslet on the perceived hypocrisy of publicly speaking out against convicted rapist and former film mogul Harvey Weinstein whilst continuing to work with Allen and even praising him.
Farrow’s fury came after an interview Winslet gave in the New York Times that September. When she was asked about the Allen allegations, she said: “Of course one thinks about it. But at the same time, I didn’t know Woody and I don’t know anything about that family. 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.”
Winslet didn’t help herself, as the following month, the topic was once again raised by Variety, and although she was noticeably more doubtful of her position, she still veered on the side of denial. “It’s just a difficult discussion. I’d rather respectfully not enter it today,” she told the publication of her decision to work with Allen despite the allegations, adding: “We’re always as actors going to say the wrong thing. I think it’s better to respectfully step away from the discussion.”
Facing an unprecedented backlash, it was somewhat surprising when Winslet appeared to change her tune when accepting an award at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards in 2018. She never mentioned Allen by name but lamented her “bitter regrets” and the “poor decisions” she’s made when working with individuals she wished she hadn’t.
“I wouldn’t be able to stand here this evening, and keep to myself some bitter regrets that I have at poor decisions to work with individuals with whom I wish I had not,” Winslet said. “It has become clear to me that by not saying anything, I might be adding to the anguish of many courageous women and men. Sexual abuse is a crime. While it rests with the rule of law to pass judgment, it lies with all of us to listen to the smallest of voices and to never stop listening.”
The actor caveat her point by mentioning that people in her position get chastised for saying anything wrong.
“Those who do have a voice are becoming afraid to say anything, because of intense scrutiny and criticism,” she maintained. “Nobody should be exempt from having a right to speak in support of vulnerable people. There are those who can speak so powerfully for those who are not able to do so themselves, and let us please not make this about which people express public regret.”
However, clearing things up once and for all, when discussing her work with Allen and the equally as controversial director Roman Polanski in Vanity Fair, she said: “What the fuck was I doing [working with them]?”
