Kate Winslet has revealed she was called “blubber” by bullies as a schoolgirl.
The Oscar-winning actress, 41, recalled the painful experience while giving a powerful speech to a crowd of 12,000 at the fourth annual WE Day UK event in London on Wednesday.
Urging young people to become “indestructible” in the face of adversity, she shared how fat-shamming had impacted on her own youth: “I had been bullied at school, they called me Blubber.
“I was always comparing myself to others. They teased me for wanting to act. They locked me in the cupboard and would laugh at me.
“I felt that I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t look right, and all because I didn’t fit into someone else’s idea of ‘perfect’. I didn’t have the perfect body. And I would rarely hear anything positive.”
Insisting she chose to “rise” above the negativity, she continued: “I didn’t lock myself away and give up on my dream. I fought back. I had to ignore the negative comments. I had to believe in myself. I had to choose to rise above it all, and I had to work hard. You have to be indestructible to do what you love, and believe that you are worth it. And sometimes that’s the hardest part.”
“I wasn’t the prettiest and I was even told that I’d be lucky in my acting if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts. I’d never let go of that. They’d say, ‘You’re just not what we’re looking for, Kate.’ I’d hear that a lot. This unkindness made me feel truly horrendous.”
Her dedication paid off and at 20, after a few smaller roles, Winslet landed a main role in Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility opposite Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.
But it was 1997’s Titanic that catapulted Winslet and her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio to super-stardom, an achievement the actress insisted, was possible for anyone.
“And then one day, I was cast as Rose in Titanic,” she recalled to the crowd. “The most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading, suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made!”
Success didn’t stop there. The actress went on to win an Academy Award, three BAFTAs, four Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Kate also spoke about the pressures on young people in today’s society and encouraged them not to “waste” their teenage years.
She said: “Your school years are years you will never get back. Don’t waste them. But don’t waste them feeling crushed by pressure either. Pressure to achieve the highest grades, or to conform to pressure exerted by people around you.
Winslet also slammed social media for distracting from the real world: “Put down your phone. Today, social media robs so many of us of just basic conversation. We are constantly distracted from being our true selves in a world that is fueled by inst-tweet-bookface, as I like to call it.
“Society is changing so fast. What we value is changing so fast. It’s not easy being a teenager, and it’s becoming harder than ever in a world of peer pressure and such awful things as cyber bullying and exposure to unattainable aspirations.
She added: “Let’s think about how else to share…..Share a real chat with the person sitting next to you, share stories, share being in this moment. By talking. Or with a hug.”
The Jobs star gave the speech as part of the London W.E. Day taking place at the SSE Wembley Arena in London.
She was joined at the charity event, designed to inspire the next generation, by Jessie J, X Factor’s Fleur East, Conor Maynard and The Vamps.
The actress has long been known for her refreshing attitude to body image, refusing to confirm to the Hollywood idea of the perfect body.
In 2015 Winslet said she was in “no rush” to regain her lose her baby weight following the birth of son Bear and blasted the pressure on mothers to regain their pre-pregnancy body.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazzar she said: “I so didn’t want to be one of those ‘Oh, wow, she’s back in shape after 12 weeks’ women.
When I read things like that, I just think, ‘Oh, for f—‘s sake, that’s actually impossible.’ ”
“I want to keep my health and my sanity and be well fed and happy,” she continued. “My body will never go back to what it was and I wouldn’t expect it to after three babies.”