Kate Winslet is offering the naked truth about onscreen nudity. In a candid interview for the October 2023 issue of Vogue, the actor explained why filming nude scenes requires so much courage after the body-shaming she experienced throughout her 20s. “I was consistently told I was the wrong shape,” Winslet said of the beginning of her career. “I was consistently told I would have to settle for less.” Several awards and accolades later, and it seems she was the perfect fit all along. “I wasn’t going to take that sh*t from anyone.”
“I was consistently told I was the wrong shape.”
At 47 and with her new film, “Lee,” approaching, Winslet said nude scenes remain daunting, especially following the back injury she sustained on the first day of filming, leaving her with three hematomas on her spine. The damage meant she was unable to exercise the way she normally did until she made a full recovery. (Admittedly, she didn’t miss the “10 minutes of f*cking abs” too badly).
“You know I had to be really f*cking brave about letting my body be its softest version of itself and not hiding from that,” she said, referencing her nude scenes in “Lee.” She also suggested that people within her own team would occasionally offer not-so-helpful feedback, urging her to “sit up a bit” to create a more flattering angle. “I’d go, ‘Why? [Because of] the bit of flesh you can see? No, that’s the way it’s going to be!'”
With all the opinions she’s heard over the years, Winslet is an expert at tuning out the noise and getting the job done. “I know better than to waste precious energy on criticizing my physical self,” she said. “I think any woman is better off just saying: I believe in myself. It doesn’t matter what other people think; this is who I am — let’s get on with it.”