‘I hope this haunts you’: Kate Winslet recalls her powerful response to ‘Titanic’ era body-shamers

During a press run for her new film Lee, Kate Winslet revealed that while Titanic talks are getting a bit old 27 years later, she’s since had a chance to clap back against those who shamed her for her weight at the time of the 1997 box office hit’s release, and the moment brought her to tears.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Winslet talked at length about her work as a producer on her upcoming film, her preparation behind the scenes, and the milestones that led her to this moment throughout her acting career. If you’re a ’90s kid, you probably know her best for her breakout role as Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic, the first film ever to gross a billion dollars at the box office. It remains widely regarded as one of the best historical fiction and romance works today.

You might also remember the intense body-shaming Winslet faced in the wake of her nude scene in the film, at a time when women were expected to maintain such thin bodies that even a size two was pushing it. Culturally, we’ve made gradual strides to rectify the damaging beauty standards that defined the late ’90s and early 2000s, seeing actors like Nicola Coughlan star in Bridgerton’s season 3 sex scenes. But Winslet hasn’t forgotten the widespread cruelty of critics in Hollywood (and in our own homes).

She shared that she’s since met face-to-face with the commentators behind the jabs and boldly told them, “I hope this haunts you.” While the actor and producer has developed an “armor” that she brings to her characters today, recounting her response to critics brought Winslet to tears after an emotionally powerful pause. “It was a great moment,” she said,” because it wasn’t just for me; it was for all those people who were subjected to that level of harassment. It was horrific. It was really bad.”

And it was. Especially now, it’s hard to stomach what was said about Winslet at merely 20 years old. I was lucky enough to grow up watching the actor on the big screen but too young to understand the scrutiny she endured, and I looked to her as a rare, reigning example of not just beauty and talent but health.

As we begin to see a familiar shift towards conservatism in fashion and beauty that harkens back to the very 2000s exaltation of the ultra-thin, Winslet’s response to decades-old body-shaming couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for those of us who grew up during an era in which thinness was rewarded no matter the cost.