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New York magazine's writter David Edelstein described her as "the best English-speaking film actress of her generation".
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Her maternal grandparents, Linda (née Plumb) and Archibald Oliver Bridges, founded and operated the Reading Repertory Theatre and her uncle, Robert Bridges, appeared in the original West End production of Oliver! Her sisters,Beth and Anna Winslet are also actresses. The Washington Post writer Desson Thomson commented: "As Juliet, Winslet is a bright-eyed ball of fire, lighting up every scene she’s in. She's offset perfectly by Lynskey, whose quietly smoldering Pauline completes the delicate, dangerous partnership." Speaking about her experience on a film set as an absolute beginner, Winslet noted: "With Heavenly Creatures, all I knew I had to do was completely become that person. In a way it was quite nice doing [the film] and not knowing a bloody thing."
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The media have tried to document her constant weight fluctuations over the years. She has been outspoken about her refusal to allow Hollywood to dictate her weight. In February 2003, British GQ magazine published photographs of Kate Winslet which had been digitally altered to make her look dramatically thinner than she really was. Kate issued a statement that the alterations were made without her consent, saying "I just didn't want people to think I was a hypocrite and that I'd suddenly lost 30 lbs. or whatever". GQ in turn issued a full apology. She won a libel suit in 2009 against British tabloid The Daily Mail after it printed that she lied about her exercise regime. Kate stated she had always expressed the opinion that women should be encouraged to accept their appearance with pride, and therefore "was particularly upset to be accused of lying about my exercise regime, and felt that I had a responsibility to request an apology in order to demonstrate my commitment to the views that I have always expressed about body issues, including diet and exercise."
Kate now resides in Greenwitch Village, New York City.
Nicknames include English Rose and Corset Kate. Height 5' 6½" (1.69 m)
Here is an odd fact... Sam Mendes was scheduled to fly on American Airlines Flight 77, which was hijacked on September 11th, 2001 which was the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.! In October 2001, Winslet was seven hours into a London-Dallas flight with her daughter Mia when a passenger who claimed to be a terrorist, later charged with creating mischief, stood up and shouted "We are all going to die." As a result of these incidents, Winslet and Mendes never fly together on the same aircraft, for the fear of leaving their children parentless.