Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts and Penélope Cruz Attend Lancôme Dinner
Lancôme hosted some 300 guests at a sit-down dinner on Wednesday in Monaco, which was infused with a “wonders and stars” theme.
“What do you think makes life wonderful?” was what Françoise Lehmann, international general manager of the L’Oréal-owned brand, asked a trio of its ambassadresses.
“Well, we were all just backstage gushing about our families, so dare I speak for the three of us to say that would be number one on the list — followed quickly by fragrance and sunscreen,” said Julia Roberts, eliciting a great guffaw from the crowd.
“And husbands, definitely husbands,” said Kate Winslet.
“Gratitude makes life more wonderful,” continued Penélope Cruz.
Also backstage before the dinner began, Winslet talked to WWD about projects — including recent movie filmings. Work on “Wonder Wheel” marked the first time she was directed by Woody Allen.
“It’s one of those sort of things that you hope to experience as an actress, but you never really dare yourself to even dream it — because it seems so impossible,” said Winslet, who called the experience “extraordinary.”
The movie is set in Coney Island, N.Y., in the Fifties and also features Justin Timberlake, Jim Belushi and Juno Temple.
“I play the lead. My character is called Ginny, and she’s a waitress in a clam house,” Winslet said. “That’s as much as I think I’m allowed to tell you.”
She added, though: “It was probably like the second most stressful part I’ve ever played, but the experience itself was just utterly incredible.”
Winslet afterward filmed “The Mountain Between Us” with Idris Elba in Vancouver, which wrapped about a month ago.
“It’s a contemporary story about a couple who are complete strangers and survive, somehow, a light aircraft crash into the side of a mountain, and then it’s really a survival story of how they get themselves off the mountain and stay alive,” she explained.
Winslet said with acting, she’s keen to try anything new.
“But funnily enough, one thing that I feel I haven’t done very much of, and would love to do, is to play English people,” she said. “I’m almost always playing Americans. And whilst I love that, I would really love to experience doing something British — maybe even British comedy of some kind. That for me would be actually quite novel.”
Theater, too, is of interest. But the hefty time commitment it commands is tricky vis-à-vis family life.
Although Winslet doesn’t use specific makeup or fragrance to get into character for movie roles, the actress said beauty-wise she believes in “everything in moderation. I also believe in being healthy — at the same time in terms of inside and in terms of a general outlook.”
“For me, so much of unlocking a character is actually in the clothes,” she revealed, explaining that helping choose the costumes is among her favorite parts of moviemaking. “I love that process. It is fascinating.”
What she got to wear in two films were particular standouts. There was “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “because they were just fun, stupid clothes,” Winslet said. “We could be as mad as we wanted with that and also pare it back as much as we wanted.”
The Allen film was a favorite, too. “I loved it because it was Fifties, but it’s poor Fifties,” she said. “The costumes did not feel like costumes, they really felt like clothes.”
The Lancôme dinner, which was live-streamed on Facebook, also counted among its attendees actresses Liu Tao and Kim Go-eun; Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, who lens the brand’s advertisements, and vlogger Tati Westbrook.
The latter shared her key beauty secret for looking good while jetting around. “The first thing that I always use on a plane is one of those crazy-looking sheet masks to keep my skin in check as I travel,” she confided.
Guests were serenaded by Josef Salvat, who had people up on their feet while joining him in singing “I Say a Little Prayer,” and were spangled by silver-colored stars wafting from the ceiling.
In between courses, a dazzling light show involved rows of rose-shaped lamps and crystal chandeliers rising and falling to music, in a little dance of their own.
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