Kate Winslet has many fucks left to give — 19, exactly, in a new Vanity Fair interview — and she’s devoted three of them to questioning her own past collaborations with alleged sexual abuser Woody Allen and convicted rapist Roman Polanski. “It’s like, what the fuck was I doing working with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski?†she asked. “It’s unbelievable to me now how those men were held in such high regard, so widely in the film industry and for as long as they were. It’s fucking disgraceful.†Winslet starred in Polanski’s movie Carnage in 2011 and Allen’s Wonder Wheel in 2017. In 2018, she alluded to “regrets†about working with people whom she wouldn’t name at the time. Her new comments came as part of a conversation about her role in the Me Too movement. “I have to take responsibility for the fact that I worked with them both,†Winslet said. “I can’t turn back the clock. I’m grappling with those regrets but what do we have if we aren’t able to just be fucking truthful about all of it?â€
Winslet also discussed taking her role in Ammonite, the upcoming period romance with Saoirse Ronan. “Ammonite has made me really aware of being even more committed to honoring what women want to be saying for themselves in films and how we really want to be portrayed, regardless of sexual orientation,†Winslet said. “Because life is fucking short and I’d like to do my best when it comes to setting a decent example to younger women. We’re handing them a pretty fucked up world, so I’d like to do my bit in having some proper integrity.â€
Updated on September 14, 4 p.m.: In an interview for Variety as part of their Toronto International Film Festival virtual studio, Winslet elaborated on the regret she expressed to Vanity Fair about working with Roman Polanski on Carnage and Woody Allen on Wonder Wheel, after their sexual misconduct had long been known. “We learn, we grow, we change. I think we should all be allowed to say, ‘Look, I shouldn’t have done that.’†Winslet continued, “And I think this is a huge, seismic time for all of us, where we’re aware of how many planes we take, for example, or things we have done in the past — or would go back and wish to do differently. And I just want to lead with a bit of integrity, and to just be up front and say, ‘You know what? I probably shouldn’t have done that.’ And so what I said in that Vanity Fair piece is really true, you know: I do regret it. I do regret it.†When asked when she first felt that regret, Winslet answered, “As soon as I was doing press for Wonder Wheel, it just made me crashingly aware that perhaps I shouldn’t have done this.†Winslet also described the thinking behind working with alleged abusers and murderers like Allen and Polanski: “These are individuals who have been feted and praised and patted on the back for decades in this industry. And so by and large, it was presented to actors that these were people who it was OK to work with. But now, of course, I feel I can just say ‘I shouldn’t have done.’â€