Kate Winslet says movie stars are lazy in comparison to TV actors.

The British actress is about to be seen in five-part HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce, based on James M. Cain’s 1941 novel.

And despite the show lacking that blockbuster status, Kate says she had to work so much harder to play her divorcée character.

“We had more to shoot and we had to work a lot faster, but the determination and the level of focus that we all had to have, because we were limited, was so much more intense than certainly any film I’ve been a part of,” says Kate.

“Film, schmilm. I’m telling you, television is so much harder.”

Reports last month claimed Kate — who recently split from Burberry model Louis Dowler — is enjoying a new romance with a mystery man.

Source: Showbiz Spy

The five-part HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce, based on James M. Cain’s 1941 novel and premiering March 27th, tells the epic story of a proud single mother struggling to earn her daughter’s love during the Great Depression in middle-class Los Angeles. Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) is a uniquely independent woman and her story is an intimate portrait of a new divorcée, struggling to carve out a new life for herself and her daughter, Veda (Evan Rachel Wood), for whom she is unreasonably devoted.

During a recent interview to promote the intriguing new project, actress Kate Winslet and co-writer/director/executive producer Todd Haynes talked about their approach to this complex and nuanced work, the marathon experience of bringing this story to life, working in television for the first time, and steering clear of the original film, in developing the portrayal of this woman. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Continue reading Kate Winslet and director Todd Haynes interview: “Mildred Pierce”

She’s won an Oscar. She’s starred in one of the most successful movies of all time. Now, Kate Winslet is about to conquer another first: television.

“It never occurred to me, beyond the moment of reading those scripts, ‘Wow, this is television, therefore it’s going to be different somehow,'” Winslet said Friday at the Television Critics Association’s winter preview sessions. The actress is starring in HBO’s 5-part adaptation of Mildred Pierce. “Sure we have more to shoot… but the level of determination and level of focus was so much more intense than certainly any film I’ve ever been apart.”

Evan Rachel Wood, Guy Pearce join Mildred Pierce remake

In Mildred Pierce, based on the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, Winslet will play a single mother struggling obsessively to win her daughter’s love during the Great Depression. It’s her first role since nabbing the 2009 Oscar for her performance in The Reader. Evan Rachel Wood and Guy Pearce also star.

The 35-year-old actress continued that she found television a bigger challenge than film.

“Film, schmilm — I’m telling you television is so much harder,” Winslet said. “It didn’t affect the work ethic in any way other than we had more story to tell, which was a luxury, and less time to work to that goal. But that just meant we were hyper-focused.”

Winslet is not the only one making her first transition from the big screen to the small screen. Mildred Pierce also marks the first television project for Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), who directed the miniseries. “This was a marathon experience. it was great to share it with film people. It was new for all of us. New for Kate, new for Evan, new for Guy,” Haynes said [Editor’s note: Wood was a series regular on the ABC drama Once And Again from 1999 to 2002]. “We walked into it with the kind of demands that we bring normally.”

Although Haynes said the miniseries required more shooting packed in a relatively tight schedule, he compared working with HBO to working with Hollywood’s major film studios. “I really felt the incredible support of HBO constantly and daily and that really did help us,” Winslet added. “It was incredibly intense for all of us. But I felt we had this glorious cushion… They were really there for us.”

Mildred Pierce debuts on Sunday, March 27 on HBO.

Source: omg! news on Yahoo!

It’s been over a decade since Kate Winslet starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. It’s very hard to believe. And since then Winslet’s fame has only catapulted. She sat down with French magazine Madame Figaro to discuss the rise of her career.

Winslet told Figaro, “We were like two little birds on the branch, huddled against each other. We were hand in hand. I was young. I was 21 years. It was exciting. I was told that my life would change. I couldn’t believe it.” Doors opened for Winslet that were closed tight before, and her professional life changed forever.

Winslet eventually went on to win an Oscar in 2009 for her performance in The Reader. Despite that the actress is one of the most sought after stars in our generation, Winslet desires anonymity and hopes to go out of this world as one of the unforgettable actresses of our time.

Source: Famecrawler

She dumps model Louis after their romance gets too serious

He was the tonic Kate Winslet needed following her painful split from hubby Sam Mendes, so we were as shocked as anyone when news emerged that it was over with hunky boyfriend Louis Dowler after four months.

But Now can reveal the reason why they split and it’s not at all what we expected!

When Louis spoke to the Oscar-winning actress about their future, he mentioned he was keen to start a family, says our insider.

But with two gorgeous children — Mia, 10, and Joe, six — by two different men, Kate baulked at the 35-year-old male model’s suggestion and called time on the relationship.

“Kate was really happy with Louis,” a pal tells Now, “but his hopes for a family with her made her realize things were getting serious.

“She didn’t want to go down the route of Ulrika Jonsson, cruelly known as “4×4” for having four kids by four different men.

“Kate witnessed the treatment Ulrika went through and is reluctant to have three kids with three different dads.”

Kate, 35, met Louis at a party in July, soon after she announced the end of her marriage to Sam Mendes, 45.

She was the picture of happiness during their brief romance and he even met her parents Sally and Roger Winslet.

“Kate was also self-conscious about what she looked like on his arm. She’s more comfortable with an older man because they make her feel young and sexy.”

Source: Now Magazine