“I’ve been laughing, crying, hollering, whooping and leaping around”, Little Children star Kate Winslet said.”My husband, Sam [Mendes], called me. He’s in London, I’m in New York. I had just dropped my daughter at school and I was taking my son. There was some serious fist pumping, pounding the ceiling of the car.”

“This isn’t supposed to happen to a girl who grew up in a tiny town. I was told the only way I’d have a career as an actress would be if I could settle for playing fat girls.”

And what did Winslet have to say about co-star Jackie Earle Haley’s nod?

“It’s not just a whole new career, it’s a whole new life. It’s gonna change him and his self esteem.”

The Bagger has no biases when it comes to the awards, of course, but he did think that Little Children was criminally — oh, he takes that back for the second time today, its just a statue — sadly, ignored. Its star wasn’t however, and the Baguette got to take the call from a delirious Kate Winslet:

Oh, I’m not going to win in a million years and that’s absolutely fine. That’s not the point. That is so not the point. To be included in that group of women, that’s the biggest compliment I think I’ve ever been paid. I mean, I can’t wait. I’m going to so, just so, try to enjoy this moment as much as I can.

I can’t wait to go. I can’t wait to go to the Academy Awards this year! It’s amazing. I’m in a category with two Dames and Meryl Streep and Penélope Cruz…, I can’t come up with words I’m so happy.”

“Little Children is a dark film, difficult and disturbing and you know it’s not just always films like that that get acknowledged. I really am amazed. Not to mention the other incredible performances that have been given by actresses this year.”

“I’ve been very aware of how high the stakes are this year. I feel like I’ve never been nominated for anything in my life before, that’s how amazing this feels.”

“I’m not faking some kind of humble NOT A FAMILY NEWSPAPER WORD. Honestly, I’m lost for words. I’ve been laughing and crying and leaping around. I can’t believe it!”

“I don’t know what to do with myself”, yelled Little Children best actress nominee Kate Winslet. “I’m pacing and screaming and laughing and crying. I’m so thrilled, I really am. I did not expect it. I was all ready to not get a nomination at all”. This is Winslet’s fifth nomination, and the bloom is still on the rose. “We’re talking about the Academy Awards! That could never be old hat”. Winslet was in between dropping off her daughter and son at their respective schools in New York when she received her first call, from husband Sam Mendes; the director was in London. “Literally as I jumped into the car my phone rang, and it was Sam. I exploded into this ridiculous display of whooping and screaming. My poor son could not work out what the hell was going on. ‘Mommy, what is it, what is it?'”, she said. Winslet was especially pleased with fellow actor Jackie Earle Haley’s nomination. “I have to call him”, she said. “You have no idea how much this is going to literally change his life. Not as an actor, but also as a person. He didn’t work for 15 years, you know”. And though Todd Field might not have received a nomination for directing — Field and Tom Perrotta did nab a nom for adapted screenplay — Winslet said, “If it weren’t for Todd, Jackie and I would not have received these nominations. This whole movie was to Todd’s vision. So I do feel that Todd has been acknowledged in some way.”

Kate Winslet, up for best actress for Little Children, is in New York City, where husband Sam Mendes is directing Vertical Hour on Broadway.

“Woo-hoooo!” she screamed. “I’m almost hoarse already. I have been screaming and crying and laughing. I am so unbelievably thrilled. I feel like I’ve never been nominated for anything before in my life.”

She has (this is her fifth Oscar nomination), so why is this one so special? “Just because as I get older (she’s 31), I learn so much more about this industry, and I’m so inspired by so many incredible performances every year. Now more than ever, I’m so aware of how high the stakes are these days.”

She didn’t watch the nomination announcement: “I can’t. I’ve never watched, because it’s way too nerve-wracking for me. I can’t possibly. I was doing the school drop-off. I dropped my daughter (Mia) at school and then I jumped back in the car and was about to drop off my son (Joe). And then my husband called — he’s in London, and he said, ‘Congratulations.’ And he was screaming. And then I was screaming. And then my poor son, who is only 3, didn’t know what was going on. He was laughing at me, asking, ‘Mommy, why are you being so funny?’ Because I was pumping my fists and hitting the ceiling of the car with my hands. I still can’t believe it. This isn’t supposed to happen.”

Her Children co-star Jackie Earle Haley was recognized in the supporting actor category. “I’ve got to talk to him”, she says. “I’ve only taken a minute to call my parents. I must speak to him. You cannot begin to imagine how much this is going to mean to this man. I mean, there’s no way we can even comprehend this. This is going to change his life. And I’m not just talking as an actor, but as a person this is going to change his life. It’s going to give him so much confidence, as it should. He did not work for 16 years. He was hiding away in Texas just trying to figure out some other kind of life for himself, and he’s literally been plucked up out of nowhere again and nominated for an Academy Award. Talk about a great story.”

Her plans for the rest of the day? “I was meant to go to my tap class, but I had to cancel it.”

The tap dancing is for fun, not a role, she says. “I used to tap for a very long time when I was younger and always really loved it, so I thought, ‘I’m going to do that again’.”

Sources: Variety.com, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and USA Today