This week marks Kate Winslet’s return to the screen, in the film The Dressmaker. The movie is merely the latest reason why Winslet has earned her unofficial title of the “Period Babe.” Ever since she made a literal splash opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, her status as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading ladies has yet to diminish. With The Dressmaker, Winslet continues to outdo herself. Not only did she learn to sew for the part, she also assisted costume designer Margot Wilson with the dressmaking process. In honor of her dedication to fashion and filmmaking alike, here are five things you may not have known about Kate Winslet.
1. Winslet reportedly beat out Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, and Cameron Diazfor the part of Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, and when she won the role, she sent the film’s director, James Cameron, a bouquet of—what else?—roses. Her commitment to the role was so dedicated, she refused to wear a wet suit during filming—and came down with a case of pneumonia. “I can never get on a boat without someone saying to me, ‘Oh, do you mind? Could we just go up to the front? Just for my mum?’ ” Winslet once said. “I literally offer it up now. When I get on a boat, I’m like, ‘Okay, come on, form a line, here we go.’ ”
2. Winslet holds the record of the youngest actress to ever receive seven Academy Award nominations. At age 33, Winslet surpassed Bette Davis when she earned her sixth nomination, for her turn in The Reader (she won), and most recently was nominated for her part in Steve Jobs. When she joined the almost-as-exclusive five-nomination club at 31—other members: Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close—she admitted her excitement: “I remember when somebody told me [about the record]; I did allow myself a serious fist-punching-in-the-air moment,” Winslet said. “By myself in the apartment, you know, just leaping around and screaming and going, ‘Fuck yeah!’ This wasn’t supposed to happen to somebody like me. I’m not the pedigree kid. I’m not classically trained. I didn’t come from the fancy home.”
3. As the face of L’Oréal, Winslet negotiated a stipulation in her contract that prohibits photoshopping images of her. She revealed in 2015 that she wanted to promote positive body image and a more realistic standard of beauty. “I can only ever speak for myself, and I can only ever do things that are important to me, and it’s a hope that other people might follow suit,” Winslet said. Winslet famously called out British GQ in 2003 after the publication released airbrushed images of her. “I do not look like that and more importantly, I don’t desire to look like that,” she said in a statement at the time. The mother of three maintains a strict no-magazines policy at home. “People don’t really look like that. In films I might look glamorous, but I’ve been in hair and makeup for two hours.”
4. Winslet got her start acting at age 11 when she appeared in a Sugar Puff commercial. While promoting a film on Good Morning America, producers surprised Winslet with a throwback clip from the campaign—but the little girl featured was not actually a young Winslet. Rather than pointing out the child actress pictured was not, in fact, her, Winslet took the slip in stride to keep whomever was responsible from embarrassment and potential termination. “Very strange—very strange moment right there,” she said on air. When the truth came out, Winslet was lauded for the kind gesture.
5. DiCaprio gifted Winslet with a friendship ring after they were reunited in the 2008 film Revolutionary Road—a keepsake the actress reportedly refuses to leave her flat without. DiCaprio inscribed the gold band with a special message, and to this day, the exact words remain a secret between the two. “It’s engraved on the inside, but I’m not going to tell you what it says,” Winslet has said. At the time, Winslet was married to Revolutionary Road director Sam Mendes, and raised eyebrows for wearing the ring on a certain all-important finger. DiCaprio walked Winslet down the aisle three years later, in 2012, when she tied the knot with now-husband Ned Rocknroll, and her children refer to him as “Uncle Leo.”