Hollywood star Kate Winslet thrilled TV viewers with Mare of Easttown, the 2021 HBO cop drama that saw her grab Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her powerhouse performance.
But while much of her work has been in America, the actress who grew up in Reading is coming back in Britain to star in series 3 of C4’s thought-provoking I Am series – and she’ll be acting alongside her real-life daughter Mia Threapleton in the first episode of the show’s latest run.
Mia, whose credits include Shadows and Dangerous Liaisons will appear with her mother who plays the title role in I Am Ruth, which stars filming at the end of April.
But Kate has been keen to point out that Mia hasn’t landed roles due to her famous mum, as she ‘slips under the radar’ due to the surname Threapleton.
Kate wed Jim Threapleton in 1998 after meeting on the set of her film Hideous Kinky, but they divorced in 2001, the year after Mia was born.
Talking to Lorraine Kelly about Mia’s move into acting, Kate said: “I think I knew [it] was coming, I always suspected. And then a few years ago she turned around and said, ‘I’d like to give it a go.’ “
When Mia landed her role in the 2020 movie Shadows she said it was the first audition she’d ever done.
“I had just finished school, was free of exam hell, and felt excited, nervous and ready to start auditioning for things, and hoping that the opportunities to audition would come my way,” the young actress revealed. “I just hoped I would get the chance to do what I had wanted to do for so long!”
And Kate was thrilled about Mia’s success, knowing she hadn’t had helped her daughter achieve success.
“What’s great for her is she has a different surname so she slipped under the radar and the people who cast her didn’t know she was my daughter and that was important for her self-esteem, of course,” said Kate.
I Am will be the first project in which Kate and Mia, 21, will both have major roles, although Mia had a small part in 2014’s A Little Chaos, in which her mother took the lead role.
And Kate, 46, – whose early credits include an episode of Casualty in 1993 – has said she’s delighted to be working with BAFTA-winning Dominic Savage, who created, wrote and directed I Am.
Some of Britain’s leading actresses have taken part in the series so far, and it became Channel 4’s most successful new 10pm drama in six years when it debuted in August 2019, with Vicky McClure starring in I Am Nicola; Samantha Morton starring in I Am Kirsty; and Gemma Chan starring in I Am Hannah.
Series 2 was equally successful, starring Suranne Jones in I Am Victoria, Letitia Wright in I Am Danielle and Lesley Manville in I Am Maria.
