Winslet was just 22 years old when she shot to global fame playing Rose DeWitt Bukater opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. While the film became a cultural phenomenon, the sudden attention left her struggling to cope with a world she says she was not prepared for.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in a Dec. 21 interview, Winslet described the early days of her fame as overwhelming and frightening.
“It was horrific,” she said. “There were people tapping my phone. They were just everywhere. And I was just on my own. I was terrified to go to sleep.”
Winslet explained that invasions of privacy went far beyond paparazzi photos. She said strangers even searched through her trash, trying to work out what she ate and whether she was dieting.
After Titanic hit theaters in December 1997 and stayed at No. 1 for an astonishing 15 weeks, Winslet found herself constantly on the covers of newspapers and magazines. Many of those headlines, she recalled, were cruel and abusive.
The film, directed by James Cameron, turned both Winslet and DiCaprio into tabloid obsessions overnight. While she remains grateful for the film and proud of the work, she said her life was “totally turned upside down” once the movie became a global sensation.
“I wasn’t ready for that world,” she admitted.
To survive the pressure, Winslet leaned on simple comforts. She joked that getting through those years required “a good meal, a shared conversation, a nice cup of coffee, a bit of Radiohead and a good poo,” adding that life is better with those basics.
Years later, the media attention flared up again when she divorced her second husband, director Sam Mendes, in 2010. Winslet said paparazzi followed her through New York City while she was with her young children, desperate for details about the split.
“You just keep your mouth closed, you put your head down, and you keep walking,” she said. “And you try and put your hands over your children’s ears.”
She credited close friends for helping her survive that period, recalling a neighboring couple who regularly left her comforting meals — including bowls of pasta and small glasses of red wine — on the garden wall between their homes.
Over the years, Winslet has spoken openly about the darker side of fame, including relentless media intrusion and body-shaming. In a recent appearance on 60 Minutes, she reacted to old footage of commentators criticizing her body, calling the treatment “absolutely appalling.”
“What kind of a person must they be to do something like that to a young actress who’s just trying to figure it out?” she said.
Now, decades after Titanic, Winslet continues to reflect on her journey with honesty, highlighting not just the glamour of success, but the very real cost of growing up in the public eye.
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