Kate Still Loves Her Roots

Megastar Kate Winslet, who hails from Reading, is coming to our screens in the new film Ammonite, in which she stars as the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. She chats to Bernard Bale about her upbringing in Berkshire and her glittering career

When you have been adored, applauded and awarded all over the movie world it might seem a bit tame to be coming home to Reading – but not to Kate Winslet, who still loves her roots in Berkshire.

“I’m Kate from Reading,” she said with pride. “I never forget my roots, why would I? My grandparents founded the Rep Theatre in Reading, my mum and dad, although actors, lived and had jobs in Reading and I was born there and grew up there. Of course, I still see it as home.”

You don’t get airs and graces with Kate Winslet, she is what she is and is always her own person. “I come from a theatrical family, which includes my grandparents on my mother’s side, so there wasn’t much hope for me really, was there?” she said. “Not that many people thought I would make it as an actress. It was my dream all along – and it came true. We were not a posh family, we simply rented a house and, like most people, lived with a household budget. We were a close family, though, and supported each other. I have tried to make my own family like that.”

When talking about her childhood, she even admits she was made fun of: “At school, I used to get teased because I was a bit weighty. They used to laugh when I said I wanted to be an actress. Yes, I suppose I was bullied a bit, it happens,” she said.

“My big moment came when I was 11 and got a part in a commercial advertising Sugar Puffs. It came about through the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, where I had been accepted as a student. They did some agency work as well and recommended me for the commercial. We all thought it was wonderful and a big breakthrough for me. It was wonderful to me but not the big breakthrough. That came much later.