Kate Winslet Recalls Confronting Body Shamer Face-to-Face: 'I Hope This Haunts You'
Kate Winslet took matters into her own hands while dealing with negative comments about her body following the phenomenon of Titanic (1997).
In her '60 Minutes' chat, which aired on CBS on Dec. 1, Winslet recalled that the fame gained from her breakout role came at a cost, as the media was fixated on her weight.
The interview showed a clip from 'E!,' in which an on-air commenter said she looked "a little melted and poured" in the dress she wore at the 1998 Golden Globes, adding that the actress needed it to be "two sizes larger."
"I gasped at how cruel some of that coverage was of you at that time," reporter Cecilia Vega told the actress. "I know," responded Winslet. She added, "It's absolutely appalling. What kind of a person must they be to do something like that to a young actress who's just trying to figure it out?"
Winslet then revealed that she had the opportunity to confront someone who had made comments about her body "face-to-face."
"I let them have it," she recalled. "I said, I hope this haunts you." The 49-year-old then became overcome with emotion looking back at that experience. "It was a great moment," she said, choking back tears, "because it wasn't just for me; it was for all those people who were subjected to that level of harassment."
The U.K. born celeb added that the media's treatment of her was "horrific."
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Sadly, Winslet had experienced appalling remarks about her body long before rising to fame through the iconic film. Elsewhere in her 60 Minutes interview, she shared that a drama teacher advised her to settle for the "fat girl" parts.
"I was never even fat," she remarked. When asked by Vega what those comments did to her "spirit," the Oscar-winning actress said it gave her the motivation to prove her teacher wrong. "It made me think, 'I'll just show you,' just quietly," said Winslet. "It was sort of a quiet determination, really."
Watch the interview in full below.
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