Kate Winslet Remembers the "Horrible" Criticism About Her Weight After 'Titanic'

From Harper's BAZAAR

Kate Winslet remembers the painful criticism she received about her body around the time Titanic was released. The actress, now 45, looked back at the "straight-up cruel" tabloid coverage surrounding her in the late '90s, starting from when she was 19 years old.

"And it was almost laughable how shocking, how critical, how straight-up cruel tabloid journalists were to me," she said in a new interview with The Guardian. "I was still figuring out who the hell I bloody well was! They would comment on my size, they'd estimate what I weighed, they'd print the supposed diet I was on. It was critical and horrible and so upsetting to read."

There was a specific moment when Joan Rivers said of Winslet's body in Titanic, "If she just lost 5lb, Leo would've been able to fit on the raft." Winslet recalled, "In my 20s, people would talk about my weight a lot. And I would be called to comment on my physical self. Well, then I got this label of being ballsy and outspoken. No, I was just defending myself."

The grueling public commentary "damaged" the star's confidence, she said. She was wary of pursuing a career in Hollywood "because I remember thinking, 'God, if this is what they're saying to me in England, then what will happen when I get there?' Also, it tampers with your evolving impression of what's beautiful, you know? I did feel very on my own."

Revisiting the criticism she received made Winslet realize how much the conversation around size and body positivity has changed in the past 20 years. She said, "[It] also made me feel so … so moved. By how different it is now."

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