Kate Winslet Biography
A luminous English rose with ivory skin and strawberry hair, Winslet made an impressive feature debut as Juliet Hulme, an intelligent, spoiled and sickly teenager who helps murder her best girlfriend's mother in Peter Jackson's acclaimed "Heavenly Creatures" (1994). A third-generation thespian, the Reading, England native began studying drama at the age of eleven. Winslet began her career almost immediately when she was cast as a spokesperson for a cereal in British TV commercials. Stage roles followed, including the female leads in a musical version of "Adrian Mole.” She made her TV debut in the drama "Shrinks" and her resume also includes a recurring stint on the sitcom "Get Back.”
Winslet landed the role of Juliet in "Heavenly Creatures" after an impressive audition. Her on screen performance marked her as one to watch: she was riveting as the tubercular, highly intelligent teen who develops a strong rapport with a fellow student, allowing the pair to create a fantasy world and, when threatened with separation, conspire to commit murder. Winslet then played a princess in Disney's "A Kid in King Arthur's Court" (1995) before winning raves and an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her subtle performance as the spirited Marianne Dashwood in "Sense and Sensibility" (also 1995). Winslet continued to appear in period pieces with "Jude" (1996). Adapted from "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy, the film featured Winslet as Sue, the title character's unconventional cousin whose mercurial nature creates problems. Later that year, she was Ophelia to Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet,” in the actor-director's all-star feature version of the Shakespeare classic.