Kate Winslet: I was called 'Blubber,' teased for my weight
Kate Winslet is continuing to speak out about body positivity and her own battles with self-image.
The actress, who made headlines by signing a L'Oreal contract that stipulated her ads wouldn't be airbrushed, spoke about being bullied as a child for her weight during an appearance at London's WE Day UK charity event.
“They called me ‘Blubber.’ Teased me for wanting to act. Locked me in the cupboard. Laughed at me," she said. "I was even told that I 'might be lucky with my acting, if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts."
Winslet described loving acting, but never getting the lead role in her school plays. "I was always auditioning for the school plays, I didn't get very good parts, mind you, but I didn't care," she said. "I'd often get cast as the crocodile or the scarecrow, or the daft fairy. I was even a dancing frog once."
"And one day, I was cast as Rose in Titanic...the most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading, suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made," she sad. "I learned to embrace my flaws, to make no apology for who I am. I dug deep, and decided I simply wouldn't listen when they said that my body didn't fit. This is who I am, the real me, Kate from Reading."
When she scored her L'Oreal contract in 2015, Winslet explained why she insisted her ads run un-retouched. "It does feel important to me because I do think we have a responsibility to the younger generation of women," she said. "I think they do look to magazines, I think they do look to women who have been successful in their chosen careers and they want people to look up to, and I would always want to be telling the truth about who I am to that generation because they've got to have strong leaders."