Kate Winslet recalls being asked to settle for 'fat girl' roles early in her career

Kate Winslet recently opened up about the difficulties she faced as a young performer including constant media scrutiny about her weight and being picked for 'fat girl' roles. The Academy Award winner revealed her agent would get calls asking about her weight, and further explained that it was 'hard' to deal with the 'extremely negative' pressures a woman has to face in showbiz. The actor also noted that the dynamics are changing now, adding that it is 'heartwarming' to see the shift. 

Kate Winslet says she was asked to settle for 'fat girl' roles early in career

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Titanic actor shared, "When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, ‘How’s her weight?’ I kid you not." She added, "It was hard enough having the flipping News of the World on my doorstep, but that doesn’t even cut it now. That phrase about ‘today’s news being tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’ doesn’t exist."

She also said that the industry standards for females can be 'extremely negative'. "People are subject to scrutiny that is more than a young, vulnerable person can cope with. But in the film industry it is really changing," Kate added.

After decades of being in the film industry, Kate said she's very careful about picking roles and “about being that actor who moves their face and has a body that jiggles." She said she strives for parts where she can allow herself to be as close to the truth as possible, intending to take "each decision with integrity."

In a conversation with The New York Times last year, Kate revealed that there were attempts to airbrush her stomach in the award-winning HBO show Mare of Easttown. Winslet said that the director promised to cut a “bulgy bit of belly” in a scene, to which she responded by saying “Don’t you dare!” 

On the work front, Kate is collaborating with her Titanic director James Cameron for the highly awaited Avatar: The Way of Water. The movie also stars  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang in pivotal roles and is slated to release on December 16, 2022. 

(IMAGE: AP)