Kate Winslet
I’m not a model

Ten years ago she reached the global success with DiCaprio (“Thank goodness we didn’t have any love affair”), the press obsession for her weight. Today Kate Winslet is happy “when my daughter squeezes my fat”.

He’s in the corridor of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, in front of the entrance of a suite. For a moment he reminds me of Will Smith, but he’s Kate Winslet bodyguard, the woman that we all remember as the redhead Rose in Titanic (one of her 5 Oscar nominations), Clementine who drove Jim Carrey crazy in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Tula, Gandolfini’s lover in Romance & Cigarettes.

Now Kate is also the new Trèsor testimonial.
“How is she?” I ask to the bodyguard, while waiting for her to arrive. “Super” he answers with a worming smile.

His name is John and he explains to me how a star like Kate Winslet must be protected: when she goes out for shopping he’s the one who is closer to her, while the other 2 take the distance. I hear a voice, it’s the signal: Kate is ready. She has 3 bodyguards but she’s not acting like a diva. She didn’t want any agent or public relater: it’s just me and she.

“Nice ring” she says while giving me her hand. If the first impression says it all, she already won. Her hand is strong, she looks me straight into my eyes. For a while, for a little while, I wish to give her my ring. She really likes it. I let her wear it and she says it’s great. “But I could never have it, my children climb on me all the time”.

It’s not usual that an actress like you accept to interpret a fragrance.

When they asked me to be the new Trèsor face I felt honored because before me there was Isabella Rossellini. The link with Lancôme was born in a simple way, naturally: they were looking for someone who was “true”.
They told me they chose me because I express feelings and that they wanted an actress to represent the most charming fragrance they have. And you know what? I adore it! It totally fits me, it makes me feel special: isn’t this the “work” that a woman wants from a fragrance?

Which is your first olfactory memory?

Let me think…. Oh, yes! In the kinder garden. Our teachers put us together in groups to let us play with the plasticine and I always made a big green mouse which had a disturbing smell. And I also remember the smell of the wood once you put it in the fireplace and it starts to smoke. It’s one of my favorite smells, it reminds me of the countryside, of my family and of when I was a child and we all had picnics.

You seem to be a very balanced person, without the obsession of the star system. The press has always criticize you because of your weight.

There are so many young women in the world who look at the actress as references. I know that we have an important role, because we condition people, inducing them to imitate us. When you’re a teenager you hate your body most of time, you want to find a boyfriend and you dream of a winning shape to feel accepted by other people. I’m obsessed with the idea that a woman can think to be wrong just because she didn’t look like one of us. This is not the road to happiness and I have a suggestion for all women.

Which one?

Be normal, I’m normal too.

Pardon me, Ms. Winslet, you’re a 5 times oscar nominee actress and you’re just 31. Do you this is it normal?

Well, I’m an actress but except for this, just look at me. My breasts? I wear a good bra, but they don’t look like this “naturally”. I gave birth to 2 children and I nursed them, so my body has naturally changed. I’m proud of how motherhood changed me, but I’ve my eyes wide opened when I look into the mirror and I know I don’t have a model’s body.

For how long did you nurse your children?

For six months Mia Honey (who will be 7 in October) and for 9 months Joe Alfie (who will be 4 in December). I love to talk about that because I think it’s important to represent something true. Principally for young girls who are so vulnerable and let press influenced them.

Have you ever felt discriminated for your curves?

Of course, but it hurts me when the press spoke about it in a very obsessing way, or when a magazine made me look thin retouching a picture of me with Photoshop. I felt like they were judging me. I was twenty years old and the press tortured me. When I gave birth to my children my body changed, but at that point I didn’t care, I was happy. Having curves, sometimes, means being alive, healthy.

About that, what would like to teach to your daughter?

Lately I realized something very important. All the girls, at a point of their lives, start to worry about their weight, all of them. Let me ask you something: have you ever heard a woman saying, honestly, “I’m happy with my body”?

Let me see… Maybe Raquel Welch in 1972? Well, I was joking. The answer is “no”.

Exactly. And that’s the point. So, when my daughter gives a pinch on my fat, I tell her it’s from there that she was born and that I’m really happy the way I am.

How much time do you spend with your children?

It depends on movie. I already finished Revolutionary Road with Sam (director Sam Mendes, who is also Kate’s husband), the set was in New York and we all moved there so I could look after them better.

In this movie you return to work with Leonardo DiCaprio. Ten years after Titanic, how is your relationship?

He’s adorable, kind, always smiling. Thank goodness we didn’t have any love affair: with him I have the most beautiful and important relationship in the show business. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of how he’s trying to focus the attention of the world on the ecology problems. You don’t know how many things he knows about this. He’s able to tell you how many watts a bulb burns if you let it on one hour more.

How is working with your husband?

I’m not one of those actresses who discuss director’s choices. If I trust him I follow him. Even if sometimes I forget about it and I call him “sweetheart”. But now I’m taking a break.

What do you do to relax?

Just ordinary life. I love being a mom and a wife, taking care of my house. I know it’s not politically correct, but that’s the truth.

And what do you do when you want to divert your mind from your housewife role?

I go to the gym, I walk and I love reading.

Do you have a personal trainer?

Are you joking? That’s for movie star!

Translation: Illy