Kate Winslet is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood and she has appeared in several remarkable roles perfectly playing the characters. However, everything is not as easy as it may appear, Winslet had a hard time playing a character alongside Cameron Diaz and Jude Law.
The movie in focus here is The Holiday. Nancy Meyers’ 2006 romantic comedy took a toll on the Titanic star as her character in the movie, Iris resembled Winslet’s personal space to the extent that she found herself in an uncomfortable place.
Kate Winslet Was Very Uncomfortable Playing Iris in The Holiday
Kate Winslet played a contemporary English woman in the Cameron Diaz and Jude Law-starred movie. Notably, the 47-year-old never played a contemporary English woman and to a large extent, it was far too personal for the English actor. “I’ve never played a contemporary English woman,” Winslet told Movie Hole once. “The closest I’ve come is that I did a little film right after Titanic called Hideous Kinky that was set in the late ’60s. It was really scary that I didn’t have anything to hide behind,” she continued. “I’m used to playing character parts, being somebody else entirely, and erasing all shred of myself in order to play a part. This wasn’t like that,” she added.
“There was a lot of things I could relate to with Iris, she’s an English woman and so am I. There was no wig, there was no American accent, and there was no corset! We did a complete read-through of the script before we started shooting, and at one moment, I opened my mouth, and said a line of dialogue in an American accent, and I said, ‘whoops, sorry. I’m so used to doing it now, since Eternal Sunshine came out, there have been a lot of American parts that I’ve played, so it’s taken a lot of getting used to. It was a real challenge.”
Sometimes, an easy movie may be hard on a certain actor, it all depends on the character and how much it requires their efforts.
Iris Was Too Specific For Kate Winslet
Casting Winslet for the character in the movie was the initial idea of the director as Meyers told the Oscar-winner in a conversation at Entertainment Weekly that Iris was specifically designed for Winslet. “I wrote the part of Iris with you in mind. Absolutely, 100 percent,” Meyers told Winslet. But playing the contemporary English woman was not the only hard part. She also had a hard time being funny as the character demanded.
“Before shooting some scenes, Jude [Law] and I would worry about how we had to be funny, and we’d say, ‘How are we going to do that?’ But the great thing about this film is that the script was so good. All of those things are written in. A lot of time was taken in crafting who these characters were, writing those jokes, making those funny moments happen, then the actors just brought their characters to life. Nancy created a very strong framework and structure in her script; we were lucky.”
Although the romantic comedy doesn’t have much significance on Winslet’s career, it certainly had an unforgettable impact on her life. Challenging herself to the role was not easy but being Winselt, she tackled all odds and did whatever was required for the role.
Source: Movie Hole, Entertainment Weekly.
