English actress Kate Winslet celebrated her 50th birthday recently, so now is a good time to look back at the iconic movies she has starred in over the years.
Kate Winslet has been a star in Hollywood for more than 25 years. The English actress has starred in everything from huge-grossing blockbusters to quirky cult productions over her career. Moving effortlessly between genres, Kate has been anything but predicable in the roles she has taken – only in that she is consistently praised for her portrayals on the big screen and has scooped numerous awards over the years, including an Oscar, as well as Emmys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes.
As the actress hits the big 5-0, now seems like a great time to look back on some of her most iconic and well-loved roles.
Titanic
Let’s start with the most obvious role – and the one that cemented her as a star. Kate starred as Rose DeWitt Bukater, a 17-year-old upper-class girl forced into an engagement with an older man. On board the Titanic, she meets Jack Dawson, an orphan who wins third-class tickets in a poker game. Their love affair is cruelly cut short by a disaster (spoiler alert – the ship sinks). The movie became the biggest-grossing of all time when it was released in 1997 and won 11 Oscars.
Sense and Sensibility
One of Kate’s breakthrough roles was as Marianne Dashwood in period drama Sense and Sensibility in 1995. The story, adapted from the Jane Austen novel, follows the wealthy Dashwood sisters who must deal with sudden destitution and seek financial security through marriage. Marianne, the middle sister, becomes seriously ill but is nursed back to health. Reviews at the time said Kate captures the confusion of her character who is idealistic romantically but then betrayed.
Iris
The 2001 biographical drama about Irish novelist Iris Murdoch and her relationship with her husband John Bayley starred Kate as the young Iris, alongside Hugh Bonneville. The film was not a blockbuster – so didn’t take huge amounts at the box office – but was warmly received by critics. Indeed, Kate was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the following year’s Oscars.
The Reader
After several nominations, Kate finally got her hands on one of the iconic trophies at the 81st Academy Awards when she took the Best Actress gong for her role in romantic drama The Reader. Set in post-World War II, Kate plays tram conductor Hanna Schmitz, who embarks on an affair with a younger man, Michael, before disappearing from his life. Years later, Michael, now a law student, is stunned to find Hanna is a defendant in a war crime trial – and is convinced she is hiding a secret.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Showing Kate’s fondness for not choosing obvious roles, she won acclaim for her role as Clementine Kruczynski in surrealist sci-fi romantic drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, playing opposite Jim Carrey. The crux of the movie is around two people who undergo a procedure to forget each other after their romantic relationship ends and it explores the nature of memory and love through a non-linear narrative. This 2004 film is now considered a classic of the 21st century.
Mare of Easttown
While Kate is most famous for her big screen roles, more recently she has received acclaim for her portrayal of Marianne ‘Mare’ Sheehan in Mare of Easttown. In the seven-episode series, Kate plays a detective investigating the murder of a young girl and disappearance of another in a small town. Kate won the Outstanding Lead Actress award at the 73rd Primetime Emmys for this role.
