Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet was planning to take a short summer break before she got a call from the filmmaker Woody Allen with an offer to star in his 2017 period drama Wonder Wheels. When she received the offer to work with the filmmaker, the actress decided to live up to his expectations and took help from several actors to prepare for her role.
Starring Winslet with Justin Timberlake, the movie follows a love affair including Ginny, her stepdaughter Carolina, and a lifeguard Mickey Rubin. While the Titanic star was praised for her performance, Wonder Wheels went on to be a box office failure, making $15.8 million on a reported budget of $25 million.
Kate Winslet’s Measures to Prepare For Her Role in Woody Allen Film
Kate Winslet was the first person Woody Allen cast in his 2017 film Wonder Wheels. And the actress opened up about getting the offer on Variety’s Actors on Actors. During her conversation with Gary Oldman, she shared that she was nervous when she first got the call from the filmmaker.
“Immediately, I’m not being myself, and I hate myself,” she recalled. The actress further shared that she did not want the filmmaker to be disappointed in her and was determined to “be able to surprise him and surpass his expectations.”
And in order to do that, she spent the rest of the summer preparing for the role and learning her lines. The Reader actress shared that she called in favors from every out-of-work actor friend of hers to help her get into the character of Ginny Rannell.
“Every out-of-work actor friend I had who happened to be around that summer, please, just please come down and stay,” she recalled. Oldman assured her that she did surpass Allen’s expectations, praising the actress for her performance in the period drama.
Kate Winslet on Working With Woody Allen
Kate Winslet later shared her thoughts and regrets about working with the filmmaker, Woody Allen. The Oscar-winning director got under fire after the allegations of him s*xually abusing his adoptive daughter resurfaced during the #metoo movement.
However, the actress initially defended the filmmaker during an interview with The New York Times. “Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director,” she said.
She expressed her regrets defending the director while promoting her 2017 film later in an interview with Variety.“We learn we grow, we change,” Winslet told Variety before further stating, “I think we should all be allowed to say, ‘Look, I shouldn’t have done that,’ you know?”
Wonder Wheels is available on Prime Video.
