Kate Winslet on 'Titanic' Fame: It Was 'Really Hard'

 

"I was only 20… I wasn't prepared," Kate Winslet recalled of the torrent of interest that stampeded her way from the runaway success of "Titanic" in 1997. It remains the second-highest grossing film in the U.S., behind "Avatar."

With its success powered by packs of teenage girls who consumed the tale of Jack and Rose over and over again, it is widely credited as having brought that demographic to the moviegoing power, igniting a wave that would give us the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" films, as well as the newest entrant to the category, "Divergent," which opens this weekend, starring none other than Winslet herself as the controlling, dystopian government leader Jeanine Matthews.

Looking back on the waves' birth, the actress, and new mother of her third child named Bear Blaze, opened the floodgates. She spoke with sources by phone this week about being thrust into world renown nearly two decades ago because of her role as Rose, a rebel among high society aboard a doomed ocean vessel.

"It was a really hard time," said Winslet, now 38. "I felt quite alone in how to understand what was happening to me. It becomes very intense when you're thrust into the media spotlight… I had to learn self protection quite quickly."

Winslet admitted her turn to superstardom is an easier topic to discuss now that time has passed. In the middle of our interview, she noted our conversation was "probably the most articulate I've been in describing [that time in my life]. It's easy now. I can say these things now. There's no real fallout or repercussion."

Although Winslet said she has a lot of privacy now, she knows her life continues to be affected by "Titanic." "The fact that I even get photographed is probably because of 'Titanic.' [laughs] It really is. The residue will be there forever. Now it's a lovely residue and it isn't in any way one I am resentful of."