You probably don't even realize how good Kate Winslet is.When I say her name, what do you think of? Titanic, of course. Maybe Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Perhaps, Revolutionary Road. Is that about it?
Did you know that she's been nominated for six Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes and seven BAFTAs? Or that she's just a Tony Award away from joining the prestigious EGOT club—that is, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony?
So if you've never considered Winslet's remarkable filmography, consider this your invitation.
Welcome to Fan Favorite Friday. And, remember, you can borrow any and all of these movies from Mentor Public Library.
1. Sense and Sensibility. Winslet auditioned for the smaller part of Lucy Steele but was good enough that she earned the major role of Marianne Dashwood. However, Ang Lee was concerned enough about Winslet's high-energy style that he had her take piano lessons and read Austen-era poetry so she could better inhabit the character.
2. Titanic. Do I really need to say a lot about this one? There was a boat. It sank. Also, something about a necklace.
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Winslet's so good in this film (which is about a young woman who decides to have her memories of of ex-boyfriend erased) that we might forget that, at the time, this was an enormous departure for her. No corsets, no historical flourishes. Just an Oscar-nominated performance from Winslet and some of the best work of Michael Gondry, Charlie Kaufman and Jim Carrey's careers.
4. Finding Neverland. This semibiographical film tells the tale of J.M. Barrie and his friendship with the Llewelyn Davies boys, which inspired Peter Pan. Winslet plays Sylvia, the boys' mother.
5. The Reader. Winslet won an Oscar and a Golden Globes for her performance as Hanna, a Nazi concentration camp guard who would rather be wrongly convicted than reveal her secret.
6. Revolutionary Road. This film reunited Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and was directed by her then-husband, Sam Mendes. She and DiCaprio play a seemingly happy but secretly troubled married couple.
7. Flushed Away. OK, so this one didn't garner any Oscars, BAFTAs or Tonies, but it's a personal favorite. It's an animated feature by the same team that created the Wallace & Gromit shorts. It's about a silver-spooned pet rat (voiced by Hugh Jackman) trying to survive in the London sewers with the help of a streetwise rodent voiced by Winslet. It's far more charming than any film about sewer rats should be.
8. Extras. Winslet's so good she could win an Emmy playing herself, and she did in this Ricky Gervais comedy about the lives of bit actors.
9. Mildred Pierce. Winslet earned another Emmy for her performance as the titular heroine in this James McCain novel turned HBO miniseries about a housewife, struggling to maintain her family's middle-class standing during the Great Depression.
10. The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism. Winslet is also an advocate for those with autism, and she talks about how this neural development disorder has impacted her life in The Golden Hat.
Come back each week for a new Fan Favorite Friday.
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