KATE WINSLET I’M PRETTY SELF-RELIANT
OscarO winneri K Kate Wi Winsletl gets her teeth into some action in her latest film, The Mountain Between Us. When Alex (played by Kate) and Ben (Idris Elba) are stranded on a snow-covered mountain following a plane crash, they must do everything they can to stay alive. Here, the 42-year-old star tells Woman’s Day about how she’s overcome her own personal challenges…
What was it like working with Luther star Idris Elba?
Idris is brilliant. He gets on with the work and lets me boss him around, because I think I am quite bossy! But I would go along with his ideas just as much.
Did you identify with Alex and do you think you could survive if you were in her situation?
I did, because I like to do things for myself rather than having someone else doing them for me. Whether I would be able to cope with something like Alex goes throughh hi is, off course, a completely different matter.
Where does that resourcefulness come from?
My mother. My sisters are the same. We’re doers. I’m one of four, my mother was one of six and I was raised being able to cope with large numbers of people in environments that require quick organisation and quick thinking.
Did your upbringing help you to deal with challenges?
There was nothing fancy about my upbringing. My parents never had any money – the riches we had as kids came through endless stories being read to us, songs sung on car journeys. And along the way, we probably learned a huge amount about relying on one’s own emotional resources.