Kate Winslet wanted a ‘bulgy bit of belly’ left in one ‘Mare of Easttown’ scene and we love her for it

We fell for her as her as Rose in Titanic, and it’s been a pretty steady love affair since then. From the girl with gumption in The Holiday to her latest role in The Mare of Easttown (one of her best to date), Kate Winslet rarely puts a foot wrong. But while her onscreen skills may have put her on the map, it’s her down-to-earth relatability that keeps her there. 

No smoke and mirrors

Always outspoken, particularly on matters relating to body image and ageing, the actress has won us over yet again with her latest revelation. Admitting that she fought to keep one particular sex scene with co-star Guy Pierce in the final edit of The Mare of Easttown, Winslet said that director Craig Zobel offered to remove “a bulgy bit of belly” on account of it not being particularly flattering (at least according to some). To which Kate replied, “don’t you dare”. 

Wanting to ensure that the character was representative of a woman of her age, Winslet told the New York Times, “I loved her marks and her scars and her faults and her flaws and the fact that she has no off switch, no stop button.” Proud of the “wildly flawed, messy, broken, fragmented, difficult woman”, she helped to create, it was important to the actress that how she was portrayed on-screen reflected that. 

Winslet also pushed back on some of the series’ promotional content too – sending back retouched images of herself not once, but twice as they were too pristine. “They were like, ‘Kate, really, you can’t’, and I’m like, ‘guys, I know how many lines I have by the side of my eye, please put them all back’”, she said of the incident. 

“Listen, I hope that in playing Mare as a middle-aged woman – I will be 46 in October – I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done, because there are clearly no filters. She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life and where she comes from. I think we’re starved of that a bit,” Winslet continued. 

Unfiltered 

Marking herself as a big fan of the filter-free movement, the award-winning actress later commented on the pressure that social media has added to people’s ongoing body image struggles – noting that it can have a warped effect on what’s considered beautiful.

“What worries me is that faces are beautiful. Faces that change, that move, are beautiful faces, but we’ve stopped learning how to love those faces because we keep covering them up with filters now because of social media and anyone can photoshop themselves, and airbrush themselves, and so they do.

“In general, I would say I feel for this generation because I don’t see it stopping, I don’t see or feel it changing, and that just makes me sad because I hope that they aren’t missing out on being present in real life and not reaching for unattainable ideals.”

Proving she’s a real one

Not the first time that the actress has pushed back against unrealistic beauty standards, she’s proved she’s a real one on more than one occasion. A Lancôme ambassador for 10 long years, Winslet had a special clause negotiated into her contract with the brand (and its parent company L’Oréal) – one which meant none of her ads could be retouched.  

Explaining her reasoning to E! News way back in 2015, Winslet said, “I can only ever speak for myself and I can only ever do things that are important to me and it’s a hope that other people might follow suit. But it does feel important to me because I do think we have a responsibility to the younger generation of women.”

“We’re all responsible for raising strong young women, so these are things that are important to me,” she finished. 

A true talent both on and off the silver screen. Kate, we commend you – that recent Emmy win for outstanding lead actress was so well deserved. 

Feature image via @hbo