British actress Kate Winslet has carved her own unique path toward superstardom in Hollywood. First gaining recognition with James Cameron’s award-winning blockbuster Titanic, the actor went on to do many critically acclaimed roles throughout her career. Her moving performance in The Reader won her the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Much like her unconventional role in the television series Mare of Eastwood, Kate Winslet’s personal life has also been anything but traditional. The Contagion actor has been in numerous romantic relationships including being married to popular director Sam Mendes with whom she did Revolutionary Road. Her first tryst with love which happened during her teenage years unfortunately ended in tragedy.
Kate Winslet Reminisced About Her First Love
Though Titanic was the breakthrough role that catapulted Kate Winslet to fame, the British star had already commenced her acting journey as a teenager. This was also the beginning of her first romantic relationship with actor Stephen Tredre. The couple met while filming the British television series Dark Season in 1991 when Winslet was just 15 years old while Tredre was 13 years older, at 28 years old. Despite the significant age difference, Winslet and Tredre were seriously committed to their relationship and lived together until the latter’s unfortunate and untimely death from bone cancer in 1997, at the age of 34.
Kate Winslet who subsequently moved on from the tragedy, has spoken on many occasions about the pain of losing Tredre. Referring to him as the love of her life, Winslet confessed back in 2009 that time had still not healed her wounds as she was still to come to terms with Tredre’s death and will continue to remember him and honor his memory in the years to come.
Revolutionary Road Signaled The Beginning Of The End For Kate Winslet And Sam Mendes
Among the many relationships that Kate Winslet has had over the years, one of the most high-profile ones is her romance and marriage to popular director Sam Mendes. The couple married in 2003 when Winslet was pregnant with their first child. The pair also collaborated on the critically acclaimed film Revolutionary Road which saw Mendes directing Winslet along with her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
Ironically, the film which dealt with the travails and complexities of a couple whose marriage was disintegrating, allegedly started the downward spiral in the relationship between Mendes and Winslet. While specific details about their breakup were never made public, The Reader actor hinted post the divorce about how difficult it was to be married to someone who was constantly working and away from home. Mendes had earlier commented during the making of Revolutionary Road that the couple clashed due to their very different approaches to winding down after work.
“I tend to cut off at the end of the day and watch a baseball game or something. I don’t like to bring work home.Kate is the opposite. So I just had to change my ways because it’s what she needed and my goal was to get the best performance I possibly could out of her and if she needed to talk about it, then that was my job, too.”
Despite their efforts to make the marriage work, Mendes and Winslet ultimately ended their relationship and finalized their divorce in 2010. Winslet is currently married to Edward Abel Smith, popularly known as Ned Rocknroll who is also the nephew of business magnate Richard Branson.
Source: The Things
