Fat-Shamed: Kate Winslet Reveals She ‘Refused to Cover Up Belly Rolls’ After Film Crew Member Ordered Her to ‘Sit Up Straighter’
Kate Winslett recalled standing up for herself after being body-shamed on set.
Aug. 7 2024, Published 7:17 p.m. ET
Kate Winslet refused to be body-shamed while on set.
The Titanic actress revealed she was once told to "sit up straighter" to conceal her "belly rolls", RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Winslet said a crew member advised her to ‘sit up straighter’ to avoid belly rolls.
Winslet, 48, recalled the fat-shaming incident as she bared it all for a recent topless magazine cover.
The Oscar-winner said the incident took place while she was filming the biopic for model-turned-WWII photographer Lee Miller, which was adapted from Anthony Penrose's 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller.
The actress was adamant she would not reposition herself to conceal her natural body.
On the exchange with the crew member during filming, Winslet told the magazine: "There's a bit where Lee's sitting on a bench in a bikini… And one of the crew came up between takes and said ‘You might want to sit up straighter’".
Winslet added: "So you can't see my belly rolls? Not on your life! It was deliberate, you know?"
Winslet revealed she wanted views to see ‘a fully functioning, flawed’ female body in her Mare of Easttown nude scene.
Being picture-perfect on-screen isn't a high priority for the Oscar-winner. In fact, Winslet proudly stated she felt "the opposite" on the matter.
The actress admitted: "I take pride in it because it is my life on my face, and that matters. It wouldn't occur to me to cover that up."
She's also no stranger to nudity in her line of work. Winslet's infamous nude scene in Titanic – when she's reclined on a chaise lounge and asks Leonardo DiCaprio's character to "draw me like one of your French girls" – has become an iconic reference in pop culture.
She hasn't shyed away from nudity in recent projects, either. On her nude scene in HBO's 2021 Mare of Easttown, Winslet said she felt a duty to portray her character in a raw and real sense.
The actress said she wanted viewers to see "a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age".
During an interview with the New York Times, Winslet acknowledged the lack of unfiltered bodies and faces in modern TV and film, adding "I think we're starved of that a bit" when it comes to realistic standards.
Winslet was aware viewers may be taken aback by her "unglamorous" appearance in the show. Still, she refused director Craig Zobel's offer to edit out "a bulgy bit of belly".
The actress even recalled telling Zobel "don't you dare" upon his reassurance the angle wouldn't make the final cut.
Winslet admitted she feels a ’huge sense of relief’ more women are accepting of their bodies.
Standing firm in her beliefs towards overdone photoshop, Winslet sent back the series' promotional pictures several times "because it was too retouched".
She snarked she was aware of the "many lines" around her eyes.
On aging and growing more comfortable in her own skin, Winslet admitted: "I do feel a huge sense of relief that women are so much more accepting of themselves and refusing to be judged."
"Because I don't know a single contemporary of mine who grew up seeing her mother looking in the mirror and saying, ‘I look nice!’ My mother never did. It was always, ‘oh God, I don't think I can wear this, do I look hippy, does my bum look big?’"
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