Kate Winslet: ‘I feel way cooler as a fortysomething actress than I ever imagined’

The star of one of 2021’s biggest TV hits, Mare of Easttown, talks about weepy reunions with Leonardo DiCaprio, binging Ted Lasso and middle-aged women taking over our screens — and impersonates Saoirse Ronan's accent

Kate Winslet: “People were asking, ‘Did she gain weight? Didn’t she look frumpy? Wasn’t that brave of her?’ But why should that be brave? I suppose because it’s not how leading actresses are represented. Maybe Mare will be the tipping point, and we’re going to stop scrutinising women on screen quite so much.”

Kate Winslet will be ready in a sec. “I’m just going to put some more eyedrops on my stye,” she says.

Blame her intense crime drama Mare of Easttown, one of the TV hits of the pandemic. “It was quite a stressful job, and about nine weeks in I got three styes in my left eye, the third of which turned into a solid little marble and had to be cut out. But I pushed on. On with the show!”