I Am Ruth star Kate Winslet says she’s ‘a rubbish famous person’ as she discusses new Channel 4 film
Kate Winslet has revealed she despises the âbulls**t of perfectionâ that has been expected of her since finding fame and has claimed sheâs âalways been a rubbish famous personâ because of it.
The Oscar-winner made the comments while promoting her new project, I Am Ruth, and revealed how she drew on her own experience of being a mother to teenagers for the poignant Channel 4 drama.
Speaking at a Q&A for the feature, Winslet said it was important for her and filmmaker Dominic Savage to make a âtruthfulâ piece of television. She admitted that much like her character Ruth - a concerned mother who witnesses her teenage daughter Freya (played by Winsletâs real-life daughter Mia Threapleton, 22), retreating into herself as she becomes more consumed by the pressures of social media - she too didnât know what to do at times parenting her adolescent kids.
âWe wanted to tell a story of our time without preaching, and create an avenue for conversation, being able to say to people, âI didnât know what to do either. Itâs alright,â she said.
âThere are some times when you look at your children, and you think, âf***, what do I say? What do I do? Whereâs the manual? Can I phone a friend?â and so much of it we do make up as we go along.
âYou know, myself included, I think often when youâre a person in the public eye or high profile figure, the media kind of enshrines you in this kind of bulls**t of perfection and Iâve always hated that.
âIâve always been a kind of rubbish famous person anyway. So, we just wanted to tell a story that felt timely, visceral and truthful, even though obviously there are parts of it that are very hard to watch.â
The emotional drama, which will air on Channel 4 on Thursday, December 8, is the latest instalment of the Bafta-nominated and female-led drama anthology series I Am created by filmmaker Savage.
The two-hour featureâs fictional storyline, which highlights the mental health crisis affecting young people in the UK, was developed, and co-authored by Winslet and Savage.
With the piece completely improvised, Winslet and her daughter Mia Threapleton looked to personal experience for their characters to use and revealed that many of the emotional scenes in the film were inspired by real-life conversations.
âHopefully it helps people identify with these conversations because they are real conversations,â Winslet said. âFor sure there was some personal overlap, itâs a mother-daughter story. Itâs inevitable. We know how to push each otherâs buttons as well.
âIâve been a parent to teenagers, and Iâve also been on the periphery of friends who have raised teenagers, who have gone through some absolutely horrific things.
âSo a lot of the conversations you hear, even specific words you hear come out of my mouth, are direct from things friends have said to me.
âThereâs that scene where Ruth sits on the bed and says, âI just donât know who I am, Iâm really struggling, I donât like myself, I donât look forward to anythingâ, thatâs literally a conversation I had with a very close friend a few years ago.
âI, along with Mia, wanted to honour those stories.â
I Am Ruth airs on Channel 4 at 9pm Thursday, December 8