How do you go about compiling a list of Kate Winslet’s best roles? You could easily say every role is her best role; she gives so much of herself in every performance. She’s most widely known for her film roles, but as the landscape of film and television changes, she’s turning more regularly to the latter. In 2011, she impressed audiences with her portrayal of the title character in Mildred Pierce, winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a SAG for the performance.
Now she’s making her mark with another series, impressing with her role as Mare Sheehan in HBO’s new drama Mare of Easttown. It’s just started on M-Net channel 101, but if you missed the first episode, you can catch up with DStv. You don’t want to miss a minute of this talented actress’s work on the series; and with that in mind, we’re taking a look at her top five roles.
Juliet Hulme, Heavenly Creatures (1994)
This was Winslet’s feature film debut and what a debut it was. Peter Jackson’s dark thriller is very different to the fantastical fare he’d become known for years later. A fascinating and searing exploration of a friendship between two young women, it’s beautifully and intensely brought to screen by its two leads, Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslet.
Rose Dewitt Bukater, Titanic (1997)
What Kate Winslet list would be complete without mention of this behemoth of a film? Although her star was already well on the rise thanks to her performance in the highly lauded adaptation of Sense and Sensibility by Emma Thompson, Titanic thrust her way up into Hollywood’s stratosphere. But it doesn’t just make the list because it’s such a huge, defining movie. Winslet's performance as Rose is sweet, sassy, and sensitive, elevated even further by her excellent chemistry with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
Clementine Kruczynski, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
In an ingenious twist, Winslet and her co-star Jim Carrey were cast against type in this excellent and quirky film written by Charlie Kaufman. Winslet is the goofy, carefree Clementine to Carrey’s serious, introspective Joel Barish in a rom-com that’s decidedly not a rom-com. As Joel tries to literally wipe his memory of ex-girlfriend Clementine from his mind, we’re taken down memory lane, reliving their relationship, joyously and heartbreakingly brought to life by Winslet and Carrey.
Hanna Schmitz, The Reader (2008)
It was a good year for Winslet in 2008; then again, thanks to smart choices and consistent excellence, she’s always having a good year at work. After being nominated five times at the Oscars, she finally won with her sixth nomination, for her portrayal as a former Nazi concentration camp guard in this heavy-hitting drama.
April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road (2008)
Winslet reunited with DiCaprio for this drama directed by her then-husband Sam Mendes. Cast as characters worlds apart from Jack and Rose, facing very different problems, the pair again ignited the screen together with a gravitas worthy of the heavy subject matter. We sincerely hope the two pair up on-screen again in future.
Watch Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown, Mondays at 22:30 on M-Net channel 101.
Catch up on the first episode with DStv here.
Want more Winslet? Watch her in these movies on Showmax and DStv:
Contagion
The Dressmaker
A Little Chaos
Feature image: Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown (photo by Michele K. Short)