Kate Winslet has portrayed some of the most memorable characters in Hollywood, but her most personal and rewarding role is being a mom to three kids.
The Titanic star has welcomed three kids over the course of her three marriages. Her daughter, Mia Threapleton, whom she shares with ex-husband Jim Threapleton, was born in 2000. Three years later, she welcomed her son Joe Alfie Mendes with ex-husband Sam Mendes. In 2013, her third child — and first with husband Edward Abel Smith — son Bear Blaze was born.
Throughout the years, the actress preferred to keep her children out of the spotlight, especially when they were younger. In 2017, Winslet said that she thrived off being a hands-on mom. The actress told Harper’s Bazaar that she doesn’t “have a chef or a driver or things like that” because she would rather take care of those responsibilities herself.
“I would be so unhappy if I had those things and I wouldn’t feel like I was being a real person anymore,” she said. “Just because I am in a position where I can have those things, it doesn’t mean that I have to. It just wouldn’t be right for my family — I know that my kids would absolutely hate it. I want them to look back and remember my chicken soup and my packed lunches and that it was me on the school run.”
Fans also have Winslet’s children to thank for her role in 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, as they encouraged her to take on the part after director James Cameron offered it. “My kids were like, ‘Oh my God, Mom, you have to do it.’ I was like, ‘Obviously.’ I said, ‘Well, they’re going to send the script.’ They were like, ‘No, it doesn’t matter. Just you have to do it,’ ” she told PEOPLE.
As for Mia and Joe’s favorite film of Winslet’s? The older kids are partial to her 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
“Mia and Joe love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Love [it], and love the soundtrack,” she told PEOPLE in December 2022. “So regularly, I’ll hear from someone’s bedroom, Beck blasting. I’ll be like, ‘That’s Eternal Sunshine.’ So that’s kind of amazing.”
Here’s everything to know about Kate Winslet’s three children.
Mia Honey Threapleton, 23
Winslet shares her oldest child and only daughter, Mia Honey Threapleton, with ex-husband Jim Threapleton. Mia was born on Oct. 12, 2000, though her parents split publicly just 11 months later.
Now an adult, Mia is following in her famous mom’s footsteps by gracing the silver screen.
Making her feature film debut in the 2020 movie Shadows, Mia spoke to Variety about her role in the post-apocalyptic thriller.
“I never actually spent much time around sets that my mum was working on. It was always a special treat. It’s a very different experience when it is happening to you, and not just something I was getting to observe from time to time,” she told the outlet. “I really understand why my mum has always impressed on us how hard the work is. She is right! And I loved every second of it.”
Winslet revealed in 2021 that her daughter had begun acting without anyone noticing due to their different last names.
“[She’s] 20 and acting,” Winslet told Scottish TV host Lorraine Kelly in 2021. “She’s away now in the Czech Republic about to start on a TV series over there.”
Winslet also said that she “suspected” that Mia would become an actress.
“What’s great for her is she has a different surname,” Winslet added. “So she slipped under the radar and the people who cast her had absolutely no idea that she was my daughter … that was important for her self-esteem, of course.”
In 2022, the mother-daughter duo got the opportunity to share the screen in the film I Am Ruth.
The Avatar actress later said on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that she was “blown away” by Mia’s performance in the movie, adding that her daughter “didn’t need my help at all.”
Winslet continued, “Sometimes I could introduce her to a technical trick here and there. Just little things I picked up along the way, like changing an eye line … Little things like that, that no one teaches you. And she appreciated that stuff.”
The film later won a TV BAFTA for best single drama in 2023. (Winslet also won the best leading actress award for her role.) Winslet and Mia walked the red carpet together at the awards show.
Joe Alfie Mendes, 20
The actress welcomed her second child and first son, Joe Alfie Mendes, on Dec. 22, 2003. Winslet shares Joe with her ex-husband Sam Mendes, whom she married in 2003 and divorced in 2010.
Joe was born in New York City, and while he leads a very private life, Winslet has previously revealed that her 20-year-old son is into the arts.
