In a candid new interview, Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet has opened up about her formative years, sharing that her earliest intimate experiences as a teenager were with girls.
Now 50, the Titanic star appeared on the Team Deakins podcast to reflect on her career beginnings — particularly her powerful breakout performance in Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 psychological drama directed by Peter Jackson.
“I’d Kissed a Few Girls”
During the conversation, Winslet revealed a personal connection to the queer themes in Heavenly Creatures, in which she starred alongside Melanie Lynskey. The film is based on the true story of Pauline Parker and Juliet Hume, two teenage girls whose intense emotional bond leads them down a dark and dangerous path.
“I’ll share something I’ve never shared before,” Winslet told hosts Roger and James Deakins.
“Some of my first intimate experiences as a young teen were actually with girls. I’d kissed a few girls, and I’d kissed a few boys, but I wasn’t particularly evolved in either direction.”
The acclaimed actress added that the emotional intensity between the characters resonated deeply with her at the time.
“At that stage in my life, I certainly was curious, and I think there was something about the really intense connection that those two women had that I profoundly understood.
I was so immediately sucked into the vortex of that world they were in that obviously became horrendously damaging to both of them, and they had huge insecurities and vulnerabilities.”
A Career of Queer Storytelling
Heavenly Creatures launched Winslet into global stardom, paving the way for roles in Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, and of course, Titanic. But her connection to queer narratives didn’t end there.
In 2021, Winslet portrayed lesbian palaeontologist Mary Anning in Francis Lee’s romantic drama Ammonite, opposite Saoirse Ronan as geologist Charlotte Murchison. The film depicted a tender and secretive love story between two women in 19th-century England.
In a previous interview with Attitude magazine, Winslet spoke passionately about LGBTQ+ representation on screen:
“For me, I absolutely love and champion same-sex love stories and any LGBTQ stories that we can possibly get our hands on.
And I hope that we are able to normalise same-sex connection on film without hesitation, secrecy or fear, by normalising these relationships.”
LGBTQ+ Allyship Without a Label
Winslet has long been praised for her vocal support of the LGBTQ+ community. Despite her openness and connection to queer narratives, she has not publicly identified as LGBTQ+ herself. Since 2012, she has been married to businessman Edward Abel Smith.
Still, her reflections in this latest interview further solidify her position as a thoughtful, empathetic, and powerful ally — both on and off screen.
