"Je pense qu’il faut se réveiller et écouter ce que les femmes ont à dire au cinéma."
Comment elle a vécu son traitement médiatique à la sortie de Titanic, comment la fiction peut faire évoluer la société vers plus d’égalité... Ambassadrice internationale de L'Oréal Paris, l'actrice Kate Winslet se confie à Augustin Trapenard sur la représentation des femmes dans le cinéma.
Comment elle a vécu son traitement médiatique à la sortie de Titanic, comment la fiction peut faire évoluer la société vers plus d’égalité... Ambassadrice internationale de L'Oréal Paris, l'actrice Kate Winslet se confie à Augustin Trapenard sur la représentation des femmes dans le cinéma.
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00:00 - Tu nous dis "action"?
00:01 - Are you ready Kate? - Yeah.
00:02 - Action!
00:03 - Hello Kate.
00:04 - Hi. When I became famous with Titanic, I mean, you know, when you mention Kate Winslet to somebody,
00:10 the first thing people will often think is Titanic and "Oh, she's the outspoken one about body image."
00:15 But the reason that that's the case is because I was literally fat-shamed by global media when I was in my very early twenties.
00:25 So I think that has changed in a way that is fantastic because it means that young actresses are just allowed to completely be who they are
00:35 and walk into a creative space and enjoy all of the interesting characters that they play
00:42 without feeling that sense of unbearable scrutiny, which definitely existed much, much more when I was younger.
00:50 I mean, now of course there's social media and there's always people who will say negative things, whatever.
00:54 But back then when there was no social media and it was just mainstream press, they could be incredibly unkind in a way that would not happen now.
01:06 - Did it hurt you a lot?
01:07 - Terrible. It was absolutely terrible. Awful.
01:11 And of course, people just assume that you're supposed to be given a hard time because, well, you're famous now.
01:17 Well, of course you'll be given a hard time. No, it shouldn't be like that at all.
01:20 I was 21, 22 years old and no one can possibly prepare you for that.
01:25 And there are no skills that you can be taught with which to cope.
01:29 So I definitely had to learn the hard way, but it's for sure made me incredibly resilient and yeah, much, much stronger.
01:36 - The Lights on Women Award created by L'Oréal Paris, of which you're an ambassador,
01:40 is all about celebrating and encouraging a new generation of women to embrace their chances as filmmakers and to empower themselves.
01:48 As a woman and as an actress, what empowers you?
01:51 - Honestly, I'm empowered by other women and other creative women.
01:57 Because it takes a lot to come into a creative space and to bring all your vulnerabilities and all your stories and to quite honestly use them to make art.
02:09 And that is what we all do. And so actually when you are in that space with other women who do the same thing, it's a very empowering moment.
02:17 - And then sadly, as a spectator, as a young spectator, have you felt empowered by a character or an actress you saw on scene?
02:23 - I've always been incredibly inspired by Helen Mirren and Judi Dench and Emma Thompson.
02:29 You know, all these women who have really lived lives and who are still so true to themselves, doing incredible work
02:36 and really caring about the people in their working environment.
02:41 And so I think that's what matters to me a lot. And to be a strong, good leader.
02:47 Because actually you do have to be that as well when you're an actor. And so those are the people who inspire me.
02:53 - What about your characters, Kate? The characters you play, to what extent did they empower you?
02:58 - Well, it's really interesting because sometimes a character will come along at a certain time in my life and I'll think afterwards,
03:03 "Oh God, that was really useful because I was able to get out that emotion or that thing
03:09 that I'd been dealing with." So there's always a little bit of something that ends up being of myself,
03:17 being put into those characters always. And there's always a little something that they leave behind as well,
03:22 which is not always a good thing. My husband will tell you that.
03:27 - You know what strikes me in the women characters that you play, that you embody on screen, is their complexity.
03:32 How rare is this in the industry? Well-written and complex female characters.
03:37 - It's becoming less rare. It used to be almost unheard of. You know, there would be like that one great role
03:44 that would come along every few years maybe and you'd hear all these names of all these people who were trying to get that role.
03:50 And it was like a fight. And now it doesn't feel like a fight. It feels like there is a lot more to go around.
03:57 And I think that's because the culture is gradually changing in the sense that we want to hear women's stories now more than ever before.
04:05 And so I think we want to hear women's stories of my age group, the sort of 45 to 55.
04:11 This is the most exciting time for us as actresses. There is so much incredible content out there.
04:18 And it's not just from the film world. You know, we have Netflix, we have Hulu, we have HBO, all these incredible streaming services.
04:24 So there's tons of content and great television series being written and created all the time. And that's very exciting as well.
04:31 To what extent do you believe in the power of storytelling to make society evolve towards more equality?
04:37 Well, I think storytelling can help if it's the right kind of a story. I mean, I think stories that are told by women,
04:45 films that are directed and written by women, that makes a difference because it sort of rattles the cage in a different way.
04:53 And I think we just need to wake up and listen more to what women have to say in the film world,
04:59 because until we do that, we just won't achieve that gender parity and we need to change the culture.
05:04 So of all the directors that you've acted for, I'm thinking, of course, of Jane Campion.
05:09 As an actress, how different did it feel for you to be directed and seen through the gaze of a woman?
05:15 It's different. It is. There is, I don't know how to say it. There's just that sense of sisterhood, I suppose,
05:22 is kind of inherently built into the experience. So you certainly feel as though you're really going through something together
05:30 as more of a partnership, I think, than perhaps with the male directors that I've worked with.
05:36 Being an actress is not only about playing roles. It also has to do with embracing the state of celebrity.
05:42 Throughout your career, Kate, how have you managed to cope with the side effects of success?
05:47 I just enjoy it. I just enjoy it now. I don't, I don't, luckily I'm not constantly in the public eye.
05:54 I have an extremely private life. So I, fortunately for me, I don't experience as much,
06:03 certainly, of those negative sides as I certainly did 25 years ago. So now I just feel very grateful.
06:10 I've got a wonderful career. I'm really lucky to have a lovely family and a really great husband.
06:15 And I absolutely love what I do. And so, so yeah, I feel just very, very blessed.
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