Of all the “Oscar favorites” this year, for me the most annoying person is Kate Winslet. Like, I’m fine if Emma Stone wants to campaign for Battle of the Sexes (she was good in BOTS!). I’m also sort of fine if Jennifer Lawrence wants to campaign for ‘mother!’ because f–k it, she’ll make the Oscar season more interesting. But Kate Winslet is openly campaigning already for Wonder Wheel, this year’s Woody Allen film. She’s been promoting the film for months already, and she will be promoting it for months to come. These are photos of Kate at this week’s New York premiere – Kate wore a boring Tom Ford gown, blah.
Anyway, it’s just the wrong f–king year to promote a Woody Allen movie, and Kate really doesn’t know how to answer questions about Woody or the long-standing accusations leveled against him by Dylan Farrow. Winslet chatted with the LA Times and in between telling the same f–king stories about how she was bullied as a kid and that’s why she could never support Harvey Weinstein, she then turns around and pulls the “we don’t know what happened” answer with the Woody question.
Did she mention she was bullied? “I was very chubby, so I was teased for that when I was 7 or 8. Really horribly teased. Locked in a cupboard, stuff like that. And then when I was a teenager, I was bullied again for similar reasons. We have to somehow instill this idea in young women that their body is their strength, that their body is something to be proud of and can carry them, as opposed to being something they just don’t like and continue to criticize and comment upon. So we have to try to help young women reach that place of acceptance at a younger age.”
How she decided to do Wonder Wheel: “When I first read the script, I just … I’m not making this up. I sat there and said, “Well, this is a real shame because this is such an incredible part and I just can’t play her because I don’t know how. And I just really, truly can’t put myself through this. What happened is that my husband and kids were like, “Mum. Get a grip. Obviously, you’re doing it. Just shut up.” Or: “Mum, it’s Woody Allen. You’ve got to do it. Come on. Do it.” Now that my kids are older, they really are involved in all of it. If mum’s doing a job, we all sit down and talk about it. It becomes a family experience. Everyone, apart from the 3-year-old, tested me on my lines for this.
Whether the allegations against Woody Allen gave her pause: “At the end of the day, you look at the facts. He’s an 81-year-old man who went through a two-year court case. As far as I know, he wasn’t convicted of anything. I’m an actor; he’s a director. I don’t know his family. I’ve heard and read exactly what you’ve heard and read. I know as much as you do. That’s all I can say.
Her mother’s passing: “And she was so sad to not see “Wonder Wheel.” [Pause.] I’m trying really hard not to cry. She was so sad not to see it. And I sent an email to Woody’s assistant and I said, “Listen, my mum is dying, and she is devastated that she is not going to see the film.” She was more excited about me working with Woody than anyone I’ve ever worked with. So I wondered if he could just send a little clip to her to see. And he did. Woody sent a couple of scenes for her to watch and recorded a little video, which was amazing. He said, “I had the pleasure of working with your daughter,” and oh my God, it meant the world to her. She showed all her friends in hospital when they came to visit. That was really something. I’ll never forget it.
The thing, I actually believe that all of Woody Allen’s actors should answer the question that way, and just say outright that they don’t know what happened and they chose to work with him regardless of the accusations. Just own that and let the chips fall where they may. The problem is that for people like Kate Winslet, they want to be able to shrug off Dylan Farrow’s accusations and then still act like they’re into social justice, or that they’ll believe victims in other situations (just not when it involves a role which may garner them an Oscar). Harvey Weinstein hasn’t been convicted of anything either, but she disavowed him in a hurry (after he helped her win an Oscar too). Just acknowledge that you’re a hypocritical a–hole and be done with it. Oh, and don’t expect to win an Oscar for it either. (Also: please don’t use the memory of your late mother to make Woody Allen sound like a good guy – it’s extremely crass.)
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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