Kate Winslet Reveals the Actress Who Changed Her Approach to Acting
Kate Winslet opens up about the performance that shaped her acting philosophy, sharing how a legendary role inspired her to pursue authenticity on screen.
Few performers have left as lasting a mark on modern cinema as Kate Winslet. With a career spanning over thirty years and a string of acclaimed roles, Winslet has become a fixture in Hollywood. Yet, despite her own fame and success, she remains grounded when it comes to discussing the people who influenced her craft. In a recent interview, Winslet shared that her greatest inspiration came from an actress whose work redefined what acting meant to her.
Discovering a New Standard of Authenticity
Winslet’s admiration centers on Jodie Foster’s unforgettable turn in Taxi Driver. She explained that Foster’s performance struck her as something entirely different from traditional acting.
“I have to say it’s Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, because she’s not acting,”
Winslet recalled.
“This is what inspired me so much, specifically from that performance, and specifically from Jodie; when I saw her onscreen when I was younger, I just couldn’t work out exactly what it was that she was doing, because it wasn’t, to my mind, what I had believed acting was. She wasn’t acting. She was just this person.”
Foster’s role in Taxi Driver is often hailed as one of the most impressive debuts by a young actor. Her portrayal was so genuine that it earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. For Winslet, it was this level of authenticity that set a new bar for what she wanted to achieve in her own work.
Redefining What It Means to Perform
Winslet went on to describe how Foster’s approach changed her perspective on performance.
“She wasn’t an actress,”
Winslet said.
“She was a real person who kept showing up. I kept seeing her in things, and that, for me, was a real penny-drop moment. I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’ because it’s about being, isn’t it? It’s not about acting. The trick is to be it and not have them see that you’re ‘acting’ being it.”
Both Foster and Winslet went on to lead films that won Best Picture at the Oscars —Foster in The Silence of the Lambs and Winslet in Titanic. While Foster collected two Best Actress awards early in her career, Winslet’s own Oscar win for Revolutionary Road came after years of critical acclaim. Each has also found renewed success on television, with Foster starring in the latest season of True Detective and Winslet earning Emmys for her roles in Mildred Pierce and Mare of Easttown.
From Admiration to Collaboration
Despite their parallel paths, Winslet and Foster only shared the screen once, in the 2011 dark comedy Carnage. In the film, they played mothers at odds, but their on-screen rivalry was a far cry from their real-life mutual respect. Winslet’s reflections on Foster’s influence highlight how one remarkable performance can shape the trajectory of another artist’s entire career.