Catching a
Kate Winslet delivers knock-out performance in her first TV role in 10 years
It’s no surprise that Academy Award winning Hollywood favourite Kate Winslet is spectacular in her latest show, Mare Of Easttown.
The puzzling seven-part crime drama follows small-town detective Mare Sheehan (Winslet) as she’s scrutinised by the locals over her dead-end investigation into teenager Katie Bailey’s disappearance. However, when she’s called to probe a murder, she may or may not have a new lead.
With her ex living on her land, she shares a house with her prickly mum, her sharp-witted daughter and her grandson. So Mare’s personal life isn’t any easier. She’s also reeling with grief following her son’s suicide. Mare’s trying to get by but, with all eyes on her and the rumour mill churning, will she be able to find the killer?
The actress tells us more...
How did you get involved in Mare Of Easttown?
I was sent episodes one and two at the end of 2018 but I had a lot going on at the time. Wrapping my head around how I would make the jump to playing Mare Sheehan was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever been slapped with. She’s nothing like me. So that’s pretty scary in a great way – I like to feel terrified and exposed!
Did you need persuading?
I was excited to read something that just gripped me right away. I was excited to work with HBO again, having done Mildred Pierce back in 2010, and I wanted to be part of an ensemble. There’s nothing more luxurious for an actor to spend time in the company of wonderful actors. I feel very lucky that it came along.
Would you be a good detective?
No, I’d be lousy. I’d be very good at the coffee and the after-beers. But this character felt a million miles away from me. I could never do the job that Mare does. I don’t think I have the mental stamina that is required.
Is there anything you have in common with her?
That real sense of family and how much it means to her to hold that together at all costs. That was something I could connect with in the midst of all these other things that were so far removed from myself.
Did you binge on any crime dramas to prepare for the role?
I deliberately didn’t. Instead, I watched a lot of real crime drama and a lot of YouTube footage. I also spent several months working with the Easttown Police Department and the Marple Township Police Department. They were all amazing. One woman, Christine Bleiler – a female sergeant detective – was always on hand to help. She would come up to me and say, “Mm, no, that’s what they do on TV. Don’t do that.” She’d say, “Sometimes it can be messy. Things go wrong, allow for that. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.”
You’ve always been great with American dialects. Was this more of a challenge?
This one, [The Delaware County (Delco) dialect] drove me crazy because there are really varying degrees of it. It was amongst the hardest accents I’ve ever done. I’d say it’s up there in the top three. I hate when you can hear someone doing a voice or doing an accent and you know they’re acting . It was important for me to make it disappear and blend in. I wanted Mare to feel as though she had been born and raised there so I just did the work and kept doing it. On the last day of the shoot, I was like, “Oh, I think I’ve nailed this now.”