“I have an allergic reaction to wanky process”: why Kate Winslet hates method acting
Many of the greatest actors in history have been staunch proponents of the method, but Kate Winslet can’t sanction falling into that category. That seems fair enough on the surface, but it might be a little hypocritical when she’s been guilty of adopting many techniques synonymous with the approach.
What can’t be denied is that Winslet is one of the very best in the business, becoming the youngest person in history to attain six Academy Award nominations, which came when she finally won her first Oscar for The Reader, taking the stage to collect her prize at the age of only 33.
She’s received seven nominations in total, along with a bulging trophy cabinet that also contains five Baftas, two Primetime Emmys, five Golden Globes, and a Grammy, which leaves her just one Tony Award away from EGOT status should she ever choose to tread the boards to a significant extent for the first time in three decades.
Winslet has played a multitude of different characters ranging from star-crossed lovers and dejected housewives to free-spirited extroverts and a Nazi guard. Many of those roles require the star to explore personalities and adopt traits a million miles away from her real-life identity, but even mentioning the word method is enough to make her bristle, with former husband Sam Mendes using it as a means to get under her skin.
“I hate that word,” she told Woman Magazine. “When I was married to Sam, he would always tease me with, ‘You are method’. I have an allergic reaction to wanky process, so I would hate to ever admit that maybe I do have one myself. But my dad always used to say to me, ‘You’re only as good as your last gig, babe.'”
Winslet doesn’t want to be lumped into the method camp, and yet, when she starred in Francis Lee’s period drama Ammonite, she isolated herself in period-accurate surroundings to get a better handle on the character. It certainly sounds method, but she was at least self-aware enough to admit that “it was ridiculous” of her to “eat this weird soup and walk around sketching things” in the name of authenticity.
Even when she won her Oscar for The Reader, Winslet maintained Hanna Schmitz’s German accent when the cameras weren’t rolling, including when she was at home with her family between shooting days. If that’s not as close to the definition of method as it gets, then the last 70 years of acting must be completely recontextualised.
The truth is most likely somewhere in the middle, with Winslet adopting certain aspects of the method ideology as and when she feels it’s required without dedicating herself completely to the process. Just don’t tell her that, though, or she’ll feel decidedly wanky about it.
