Kate Winslet has been quick to respond to the sad news that the woman who shared the role of Titanic survivor Rose in the hit 1997 movie has died, calling 100-year-old actress Gloria Stuart “a remarkable woman”.

Stuart passed away on Sunday (26Sep10) at her Los Angeles home after years of ill health and Winslet admits she’s “saddened” by the news.

A statement from the British star reads, “I am so saddened to hear of the loss of this remarkable woman. I feel blessed to have met her, known her, and to have acted alongside her.

“Anyone who spent time in her presence will know what an extraordinary shining light she truly was. She will be deeply missed.”

Source: Contactmusic News

Hold onto your seats you lucky little lesbians! It has just been announced that hot mama Jodie Foster and sexpot Kate Winslet have signed on to star in Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage.

Playing alongside Foster and Winslet are Inglorious Basterds star Christoph Waltz and Crash star Matt Dillon. Waltz and Dillon will star as the ladies’ husbands.

God of Carnage tells the tale of two sets of marriages in trouble when their children become involved in a fight at school and all sides are forced to take a good look at their own parenting skills.

The New York Times stated while referring to the Broadway version of Carnage, “As rum replaces coffee and outer garments are removed, sides of combat blur. The men gang up on the women, the women gang up on the men, and the husbands and wives wind up, briefly, changing partners.”

Hmm. Changing partners. Jodie Foster. Kate Winslet. We’ll let you have a moment to consider the options available.

Since Polanski is not allowed to legally enter the United States due to his legal woes in a child molestation case going back to 1977, the Academy Award-winning director will shoot the film in France. Paris will be the backdrop for the stars starting this February. It has been reported that filming will last around 12 weeks mark. The original location in the script called for the story’s location to be in Brooklyn, New York.

God of Carnage originally ran on Broadway in 2009 for a total of 452 performances and starred James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis in the roles now being portrayed by Foster, Winslet, Waltz and Dillon. The Broadway show won a total of three Tony Awards.

Source: SheWired.com

Kate Winslet has founded a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers for people with autism around the world. Compelled during her narration of a documentary titled A Mother’s Courage: Talking Back to Autism, about a young Icelandic boy named Keli living with autism, Winslet became motivated to make a difference. Upon meeting Keli’s mother, Margret, Winslet was deeply moved by her far-reaching journey to find a way for her nonverbal son to learn to communicate. Her experience motivated the establishment of the Golden Hat Foundation. “The Golden Hat” was the title of a poem written by 12-year-old Keli Thorsteinsson.

The mission of the Golden Hat Foundation is the establishment of innovative living communities that offer people with autism the opportunity to learn to communicate effectively, receive an education, job training and enjoy recreational activities, all within a supportive social network. When given a suitable education and the means to communicate effectively, people with autism can truly realize their dreams.

The Golden Hat has partnered with Virgin Unite, the non-profit foundation of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. To support the cause, donations can be made online at www.goldenhatfoundation.org and www.virginunite.com/goldenhat.

“After watching the film A Mother’s Courage with my daughter one day, she turned to me and asked, ‘What if I wasn’t able to talk to you mummy?'” said Golden Hat Foundation director and founder, Kate Winslet. “As I thought about what that meant, for a mother not to be able to talk with her own child, I realized that I had to lend my voice to raise awareness of this rapidly increasing disorder.”

Continue reading Kate Winslet creates foundation to help those with autism

Kate Winslet’s romance with British model Louis Dowler is moving at such a breakneck pace that she has asked him to live with her while she makes her next film in Chicago.

Kate — who split from director Sam Mendes earlier this year — has been inseparable from Louis since they met this summer.

And with her commitments to new film Contagion likely to keep her in the Windy City for several months, friends say the 34-year-old star of Titanic wants her new man to keep her company there.

Says a chum: “Kate hates the idea of having a long-distance relationship, even for a short period of time.

“They are absolutely smitten. They loathe being apart and so are taking their romance to the next level.

“Kate has been relatively free of work commitments since her split with Sam so she and Louis have managed to enjoy lots of time together. But that is all about to change as she gets her teeth into this next movie and she will be spending a lot of time away from home.

“They have discussed the idea of Louis going with her while she films so they won’t have to endure a long-distance relationship at such an early stage in what seems to be something pretty serious. Kate hasn’t been this happy in a very long time.”

While she is in Chicago filming Contagion, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Matt Damon, Kate will juggle the care of her children — Mia, nine, and six-year-old Joe — with New York-based Mendes.

But she doesn’t have to worry about Louis, 34, lending a hand with the child-minding as friends say he has also captured her youngsters’ hearts.

A spokesperson for Louis declined to comment but confirmed that his schedule was clear from October.

A spokesman for Kate also declined to comment.

Source: Mail Online

Kate Winslet has not been seen on screen since The Reader was booked into theaters early last year. After winning the Oscar for that performance, she surprised everyone when she chose as her next project a TV remake of the 1945 film Mildred Pierce, which won Joan Crawford her only Academy Award.

The meaty title role in Mildred Pierce is a single mother who struggles to provide for her two daughters during the Depression. Taking on a job as a waitress, she infuriates her older daughter, Veda, who has grandiose social ambitions. After younger daughter Kay dies of pneumonia, Mildred pours all her love into the ungrateful Veda. The mother is even willing to take a murder rap for the daughter, who offs her stepfather in a dramatic shootout.

Todd Haynes (I’m Not There) adapted James M. Cain’s bestselling 1941 novel and directed the HBO miniseries, which will air over five nights next spring. Haynes was a 2002 Oscar nominee for his script of Far From Heaven, an homage to the lush 1950s movie romances of director Douglas Sirk; he lost to Pedro Almodóvar for Talk to Her.

The 1945 Mildred Pierce contended for six Oscars, including best picture, which went to The Lost Weekend. Crawford earned the first of her eventual three Oscar nominations; Possessed (1947) and Sudden Fear (1952) were the others. The actress feigned illness on Oscar night and, after skipping the ceremony, she received the press at home, where she accepted the award in bed, capping off one of the great screen comebacks.

In 1945, it looked like Crawford’s career was all washed up. She had left MGM after 18 years and was desperately hustling up roles at Warner Bros. when she discovered Mildred Pierce, a role rejected by Bette Davis. Director Michael Curtiz didn’t want Crawford on board, dismissing her as a has-been, but he finally bowed to studio pressure after she agreed to take a screen test. In December, award watchers were stunned when Crawford was voted best actress by the National Board of Review. Variety called it an “eye-opening selection,” which certainly opened Crawford’s eyes. Promptly, she hired a veteran PR man to manage her Oscar campaign and was off to win her overdue chunk of academy gold, beating the three previous champs in the race — Greer Garson, Jennifer Jones and Ingrid Bergman — as well as Gene Tierney.

From the looks of the trailer, Winslet delivers another of her knockout performances. HBO has so dominated the Emmy movie and miniseries races as of late that the broadcast networks want to bounce it from the kudocast. Regardless of where it ends up next year, look for Winslet to be as strong a contender as Crawford.

Source: Gold Derby | Los Angeles Times