Kate Winslet Says Fame After ‘Titanic’ Was ‘Horrible,’ Calls Life at the Time ‘Unpleasant’

Kate Winslet didn’t want mainstream fame after starring in her 1997 breakout, Titanic.

In a new PORTER cover story, the actress, 48, discussed the overwhelming experience after starring as Rose DeWitt Bukater in the James Cameron-directed film. Winslet starred opposite a young Leonardo Dicaprio as Jack Dawson, who went on to become arguably one of the best and most recognizable actors of all time.

“I felt like I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant,” Winslet said.

She continued, “Journalists would always say, ‘After Titanic, you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’… and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your fuckin’ life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible.’ I was grateful, of course.”

“I was grateful, of course,” Winslet added. “I was in my early twenties, and I was able to get a flat. But I didn’t want to be followed literally feeding the ducks.”

On still being a prominent actress, Winslet said, “It’s not a burden, any of it.[Titanic] continues to bring people huge amounts of joy. The only time I am like, ‘Oh god, hide’, is if we are on a boat somewhere.”

As for her relationship with Dicaprio at the time of filming, Winslet said it was strengthened by the film’s “seismic” impact. “I think when you experience something so seismic, so young… we really went through that together,” she said.

The actress will next star in HBO’s political satire The Regime.

It’s quickly apparent by their shared laughter that Payton’s costars — Reginald VelJohnson, Telma Hopkins, Jaleel White, Kellie Shanygne Williams, Darius McCrary, Shawn Harrison, and Bryton James — know where this story is going.

“I’m taking my stuff out of my trunk, and George sees and he says, ‘Good morning,’ and asks if I need any help. He took all my stuff and he said, ‘Save some for me, whatever it is.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then I said [falling back in her seat, flustered], ‘Damn!’”
White had a very different experience with the future Oscar winner, although still an entertaining one.

“The ER stage was directly across from ours. Our basketball court … became synonymous with ‘that’s Jaleel’s basketball court,’” the onetime NBA hopeful explains. “I remember a teamster came onto our set and politely asked, ‘Would you mind if we moved the basketball hoop out into the common area between ourselves and the ER stage?’ I realized about a month later that this is technically no longer my basketball hoop; this hoop now belongs to Mr. George Clooney.”

While White can laugh about it now, back then he wasn’t about to give up “his” court so easily.
“I just figured, ‘Well, I have to kick his ass and remind him who this hoop belongs to.’ George Clooney and I played a particularly spirited game of one-on-one,” White recalled, “and of everyone to walk by and watch this game contained — ’cause we were really hacking on each other at this point — was [then-president of CBS Entertainment] Leslie Moonves. He was almost looking at it like, ‘Who is allowing the stars of these shows to beat on each other before they’re supposed to be filming?’”

White got to put his skills to use on the sitcom during a couple of its 215 episodes. You can see those and all nine seasons of Family Matters — plus other ABC comedies and TGIF titles including Full House, Step by Step, and Home Improvement — now on Hulu.