Yes the pictures are so beautiful.
I translated the interview into English. It's not a perfect translation but it's the best I could do.
No alcohol for sex scenes in movies. No psychologist for two divorces, because, she explains, "I do not need to be cuddled by a stranger." The star who is preparing to light the Venice Film Festival speaks for the first time after heartbreak. She has strong opinions and an Oscar. Do you know where it will take you? Just turn the page.
I tell you one word: shorts. Understood as shorts. And so that presents itself to our interview with Kate Winslet in a hotel in Madrid. In that signed piece of clothing (Rag & Bone, fashion brand) there is much more of a leader in summer fashion this year. This is a statement that is worth a lot of gossip: Kate Winslet, divorced for over a year, is telling us that she feels she's in great shape and that the single life returns. She does not look for solidarity and does not whine: after her marriage to director Sam Mendes came and gone (just like the previous one with Jim Threapleton), she dated model Louis Dowler and finished the relationship (or maybe not). She still looks great, thanks.
This is one of the first interviews after the winter of 2009 in which Kate won within a month, two Golden Globes (for Revolutionary Road and The Reader) and an Oscar (for The Reader). She seemed like the luckiest woman on earth and loved. I celebrate. But she declared that she would take a break. "I do not want to keep boring people," she said.
During the long news blackout, the separation was announced by Mendes, which means that in those days of joy professionally, Kate had major trouble at home. There has been talk of a possible betrayal of her husband to actress Rebecca Hall, both of whom have denied.
Kate reacted to speak in public without a bang, only with the facts. She went back to work, the large and reliable lifesaver for women who do not want to drown in emotions.
Work at high levels, as you can do: the miniseries Mildred Pierce and the highly anticipated film of Venice Film Festival: Carnage by Roman Polanski, who will be one of the top titles of the festival. Where, perhaps, will also present with Contagion by Steven Soderbergh, a thriller with a stellar cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Matt Damon. Mother of two children (Mia, 10 years, and Joe, 7), glamorous ambassador for Lancome cosmetics brand, Kate is also part of charity. She created her own foundation, The Golden Hat, dedicated to autistic children and their families. She is also is writing a book and, together with Lancome, will raise funds by selling a collection of products for make-up she signed.
The next year she will put the imprint of her hands on the piece of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And one is inclined to say that this honour arrives late: Winslet was already a star of first magnitude and has been popular (never heard of the Titanic?). She is also called the Meryl Streep of her generation.
She is a class act who loves to give a strong image, as you will see from the interview. An image that cannot be cut even by two divorces. And that, perhaps, has made her own method of survival of pain staged in one of her films: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.Vanity Fair Italy: When I told a few friends I had come to interview you, I realized that they are all fans, without dividing into pro or con. It does not happen often.
Kate Winslet: I know, thanks!
VFI: Why, in your opinion?
KW: There is a common expectation of Kate Winslet: normal, one of us, and so on. The truth is that I really am a person who is very consistent with myself and my origins. I know what it means to have little money to go shopping, I know the little everyday hassles and fret over getting toilet paper and pretend to live on a higher plane. And above all, personalities do not change according to situations and people before me.
VFI: In recent years, you talked about the controversy concerning the dominant image of the female body, also talking about problems with the balance. Are you sorry for being so open?
KW: Sorry? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, the topic is always lively about influences on women's lives and their perception of themselves. But I realize that I become too boring to talk about: Kate Winslet is fat, Kate Winslet is lean. Look at me: I am now well and, believe me, my body has not changed that much since I was reproached for being fat. Yet, even now, someone, in a very hypocritical way, says: "How can she lose weight!" I get a little nervous.
VFI: Carnage, with you and Jodie Foster, is based on the play by Yasmina Reza. It shows arguments and violence in everyday life. Do you get angry easily?
KW: Not much. But I can get out of the car and help a person if I notice that nobody is doing it. That kind of indifference on the road makes me upset. I am also very angry with myself because, as much as I try since the age of reason, I'm unable to be punctual. Not at work, on set, and in situations like this. Instead, in everyone's life, the days are denied. I wake up early to take the kids to school, but there are mornings where it does not come until the last minute, again with water to the throat.
VFI: On the job, you are a perfectionist. Do you get angry if a colleague is a little rascal?
KW: No. I try to be tolerant: I understand that there are actors who are struggling to learn the lines by heart and maybe they need more time than me. In those cases, I suffer in silence. I avoid to bare my nervousness.
VFI: Yet, actors can be divas, right? You are Kate Winslet, my goodness.
KW: But what diva! The actors are people just like all the others. The attention of the newspaper and success does not mean we deserve preferential treatment. Look, I do see some people who feel superior because they do this job. I do not think they are happy: to make the superstar claims means you're wasting energy and moving away from others. I do not want to be perceived as distant, I want people to talk to me.
VFI: Test for the normal person: Kate Winslet, since you have a beautiful voice as we heard in the movies, do you ever sing in the shower?
KW: Yes, almost always. I invent songs. And I love to hear my children, who love to take a shower together, singing loudly in the shower because there is the rumble. They scream the pieces of Lady Gaga or rearrange the words of Justin Timberlake in their own way because they do not know the exact significance. I'm out there, listening to these surreal creations.
VFI: Between us there are two teams for ordinary women: team Johnny Depp and team Leonardo DiCaprio. You have worked with both, but I imagine you are team Leonardo.
KW: And would you ask? I really like Johnny, but Leonardo is my friend! We met when I was 18 years old, now I'm going to turn 36. He is nearly 37. Where has the time flown?
VFI: I don't know. You have extraordinary parallel careers.
KW: Yes, but it seems to me that it's only been a few months.
VFI: Since the days of Titanic, you have always been very relaxed in the nude scenes. You could give lessons. Is it the most embarrassing with someone you or with someone you do not like?
KW: The sex scenes are always embarrassing, more than any other situation. Who says the opposite mind. Also because often, for reasons which I have never understood, you start running with a colleague the day before.
VFI: Other actors have told me they drink a cup of alcohol for comfort.
KW: True, some do. I do not. I drank only once; when I had a scene in which Holy Smoke I had to look drunk. I will never do it again. I want to be all there. It's too dangerous to rely on alcohol.
VFI: You are very rational. Have you ever been tempted by spiritual experiments? Never went to a psychic, a card reader, such things?
KW: A couple of times. But I think to look for the answers from a fortune teller is a mistake. You certainly undergo a disappointment.
VFI: Okay. But have they ever predicted anything interesting?
KW: Yes: a few years before both my Golden Globes, I was told that I would win two awards on the same occasion. Obviously I did not believe it.
VFI: What about therapy?
KW: It's not for me. I'm strong enough to manage on my own. Everything that happened to me in life, privately and publicly, I've analyzed myself, with the help of friends and family. But I will never pay for professional help. I do not need to be cared for and petted by a stranger. I know what I need.
VFI: Where is your Oscar?
KW: In the bathroom.
VFI: Very snobby.
KW: I do it for people who come to visit. I know everyone wants to see it, touch it, feel its weight and maybe look in the mirror as they lift. But perhaps they are embarrassed to ask. Instead, well, my guests can do so without asking permission.
VFI: Could you put a camera in the bathroom and film? A short film would be fun.
KW: Do you think that might be a great idea? Can I steal it? You're welcome. So I am at home of the Oscar I've never had.
I can't understand some of Kate's answers but did my best to translate!