Kate Winslet ‘Impressed’ by Daughter Mia Threapleton in ‘I Am Ruth’

Kate Winslet has discussed her experiences acting alongside her daughter, Mia Threapleton, for the first time.

Appearing in London to promote the feature-length television drama “I Am Ruth” – in which Winslet and Threapleton recreate their relationship in a fictional setting– the British actor spoke of how aspects of life imitated art during a Q&A session.

“For sure, there was some personal overlap,” Winslet confided. “It’s a mother/daughter story: it is inevitable. We know how to push each other’s buttons.” Winslet also praised her daughter’s performance, saying that she was “impressed” by Threapleton every day throughout the shoot.

Whilst Winslet was last seen in 2021’s acclaimed U.S. drama “Mare of Easttown”, “I Am Ruth” marks a continuation of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning and female-led anthology drama series, “I Am.” The brainchild of British writer and director Dominic Savage, two seasons to date have included performances from the likes of Vicky McClure, Samantha Morton, and Lesley Manville.

I Am Ruth,” which is set to air in the U.K. on Dec. 8, was developed and co-authored by Winslet and Savage. The outcome is a hard-hitting and contemporary narrative that focuses on mental health, parental despair, and a teenager locked in freefall from the pressures of social media. It is a searing film destined to linger long in the memory – a conversation-starter too.

“There are times when you look at your children you think, ‘What do I say? What do I do? Where’s the manual?’ So much of it we make up as we go along; myself included,” Winslet said.

“Often, when you’re a person in the public eye or high-profile, or whatever, the media enshrines you in this kind-of bullshit of perfection. And I’ve always really hated that. I’ve always been a rubbish famous person anyway,” she quipped. “We wanted to tell a story here that felt timely, visceral and truthful, even though there are parts of it that are very hard to watch.”

Although the plot was scripted, written dialogue was absent entirely. “Not one word out of our mouths was scripted. Everything we said we made up on the day, in the moment; nothing was written down,” the Oscar-winner revealed. “That makes what Mia does doubly impressive, because when you’re a young actor, having the courage to say what you think and come forward with an idea can be really quite challenging.”

Asked if she had to disregard her parental instincts to comfort Threapleton during difficult scenes, Winslet conceded: “There were moments when I would look and think, ‘My gosh, she’s doing it, she’s really doing it’. I would want to hug her and make it stop.”

Nevertheless, Winslet said the experience was “really special” and claims to have been “thrilled” to have had it. “Not that I didn’t respect her before, [but] I was given new things to respect and admire about my own child,” she said.

Elsewhere, Winslet discussed the “shame” parents can feel in raising their children, and how this was something she wanted to address in the show. “’Did I fail? Was I too busy? Did I not listen? Should I have done more; said more?’. These are all normal questions to ask and normal things to feel. I didn’t want to do anything [in “I Am Ruth”] that felt fake.”

Winslet described her continued affection for the acting craft, calling it “a joy and a pleasure”.

Titanic director James Cameron has said he thinks star Kate Winslet was ‘a bit traumatised’ after filming the blockbuster due to the scale of the project.

Cameron has repeatedly discussed the length of his new film in recent months, telling Total Film magazine that there’s “more story to service” in the sequel.

The director also spoke out about moviegoers’ potential complaints during an interview with MarkMeets magazine, said he didn’t want critics “whining” about the run time.

“I can almost write this part of the review. ‘The agonisingly long three-hour movie…’ It’s like, give me a fucking break,” Cameron said.

“I’ve watched my kids sit and do five one-hour [TV show] episodes in a row. Here’s the big social paradigm shift that has to happen: it’s okay to get up and go pee.”

Winslet rose to international stardom after starring in the 1997 epic romance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (who it’s recently been revealed almost lost the role of Jack) in her early 20s and has since gone on to have an impressive acting career.

After more than two decades, the actress, 47, and Cameron, 68, are reuniting for the upcoming Avatar sequel The Way Of Water which the director feels they are both ‘eager’ for.

The writer-director admitted: ‘I think Kate came out of Titanic a bit traumatised by the scale of the production and her responsibility within it.

‘We’ve both been eager over time to work together again, to see what the other is about at this point in our lives and careers.’

The director added “She’s very large and in charge on set. You’d swear she was producing the film!’

Winslet plays Metkayina matriarch Ronal in the much-anticipated return to the planet of Pandora nearly 13 years on.

The original sci-fi epic from 2009 became the highest-grossing film of all time and went on to win three Oscars for its stunning visual effects, cinematography and art direction.

It actually knocked Titanic off the top of the highest-grossing films list upon its release, and it currently places third. Adjusted for inflation, 1939’s Gone with the Wind still reigns supreme, with Avatar second and Titanic again at number three.

Avatar was set in 2154 and followed paraplegic marine Jake Sully, who is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission which becomes challenged when he falls for Zoe Saldana’s other-worldly blue princess Neytiri, a Na’vi.

The sequel is set more than a decade after the events of the first film and sees Jake settle down with Neytiri and their three children in the Na’vis’ rainforest home.

Once a familiar threat returns, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.

Cameron has planned out a further three films, which would bring the Avatar franchise to five in total and see a movie released every other year until 2028. The director, who admits he is ‘a lot more mellow now’ than he once was, has said he is ‘absolutely realistic and sanguine’ about the future of the movies.

The Terminator filmmaker told the publication: ‘It’s simple. If Terminator 1 had failed, there wouldn’t have been a Terminator 2.’  He also admitted that it was ‘possible, maybe even probable’ that the post-Covid streaming marketplace meant it wouldn’t be possible to achieve the financial return they needed to make another three Avatar movies ‘a sound business proposition’.

Cameron has previously confirmed that for the sequel to be profitable, it would have to be ‘the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history’ and if it is not he will have to rethink the future films.

However, he admits he is keen to make the other movies, saying: ‘I want to go big or go home.’

The sequel is three minutes shorter than Cameron’s earlier movie “Titanic,” which had held the title of highest-grossing movie prior to “Avatar.”

The director wanted the $350 million sequel to be “epic” and gave his opinion about when he thinks moviegoers should take a bathroom break during the lengthy film.

“Any time they want. They can see the scene they missed when they come see it again,” he said.

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Stevie Flavio
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