Kate Winslet Regrets Working With Woody Allen And Roman Polanski
Kate Winslet has expressed her regret at working with two high-profile directors who have been accused of sexual assault, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
Winslet worked with the former most recently in 2017 on the film Wonder Wheel - and defended working with him at the time - and Polanski in 2013 on the movie Carnage.
Allen has been accused of sexual abuse by his stepdaughter Dylan Farrow and ex-wife Mia Farrow. He has always denied the allegations and has never been charged with a crime.
Polanski has also been accused of sexual assault, most recently a rape claim was made against the director last year which he vehemently denied. In 1977, he admitted unlawful sex with a minor as part of a plea deal, but later fled the US over concerns this deal would be scrapped. As a result, he is still wanted by US authorities over the charges, but has stayed in Europe as a fugitive.
Winslet - who began her career in the 1990s with roles in period dramas before being thrust into the spotlight after starring opposite longtime friend Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic - reflected on the changing times in her industry, brought on by the #MeToo movement, and how this has led her to reevaluate previous professional choices.
'Life is f***ing short and I’d like to do my best when it comes to setting a decent example to younger women. We’re handing them a pretty f***ed up world, so I’d like to do my bit in having some proper integrity,' the 44-year-old told Vanity Fair.
'It’s like, what the f*** was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski? It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s f***ing disgraceful. And I have to take responsibility for the fact that I worked with them both. I can’t turn back the clock. I’m grappling with those regrets but what do we have if we aren’t able to just be f***ing truthful about all of it?'
In 2018, not long after defending Allen, Winslet said she has 'bitter regrets' about working with some individuals during her career, but did not name anyone specifically.
The actor is soon to star in Ammonite opposite Saoirse Ronan and discussed how she has more confidence now to speak up on film sets, explaining that she choreographed the love and sex scenes with Ronan herself and looks to protect younger co-stars now when filming intimate scenes.
Winslet told an example of an uncomfortable and inappropriate encounter she had when she was younger, recalling the filming of Heavenly Creatures - which she called largely her 'most treasured film experience' apart from this one instance.
'One of the camera boys—as we’re lining up a shot, and we’re both in our little undies, naked from the waist up—I heard him as an aside say to someone else, “Well, I guess it’s hard-dicks day, boys.”
'I was like, “Uh,” but I did this weird thing that you do when you’re younger of just going, “Well, that wasn’t very nice, but we’d better not say anything.” And so I just carried on. I must have sort of buried it, because I had forgotten. But now it’s crystal clear.'
Let's hope that with women like Winslet leading by example this kind of gross behaviour rapidly becomes a thing of the past.
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