Kate Winslet addresses body-shaming she was subject to after Titanic

"I'm a young woman, my body is changing. I'm figuring it out."

Kate Winslet has spoken out against the fat-shaming she endured following the release of James Cameron's Titanic in 1997 In the epic film, a 21-year-old Kate played Rose De Witt Bukater, a privileged but deeply unhappy young woman aboard the ill-fated ship. For her performance, Kate was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, establishing her as the fourth-youngest actress to receive that nomination at the time. Despite the acclaim and worldwide recognition for her role, Kate was also subject to some cruel body-shaming. Now, 25 years later, Kate has spoken about the toll the abuse took on her. Reflecting on that period, Kate told the Happy Sad Confused Podcast: "Apparently I was too fat. Isn't it awful? Why were they so mean to me? They were so mean. I wasn't even f***ing fat." Kate also spoke about how she would challenge journalists and the media for the cruel ways they spoke about her at the time. "If I could turn back the clock, I would have used my voice in a completely different way," she said. "I would have said to journalists, I would have responded, I would have said, 'Don't you dare treat me like this. I'm a young woman, my body is changing. I'm figuring it out. I'm deeply insecure. I'm terrified. Don't make this any harder than it already is." Kate then described this behaviour as "bullying" and "borderline abusive". Over the years, Kate has been unafraid to call out Hollywood for its unreasonable expectations for women. Last year, following the release of the smash hit Mare of Easttown, Kate revealed that she refused to let the director edit out a "bulgy bit of belly" from a sex scene. Additionally, she rejected a number of promotional posters which featured edited photos of her face. Addressing her character in an interview with The New York Times: "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."

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• Kate Winslet refused to let director edit "bulgy bit of belly" from Mare of Easttown scene
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• Kate Winslet would "absolutely love" a second season of Mare of Easttown