When you think about it, Kate Winslet achieved massive success at a very young age, and since then has gone on to have a remarkable career. Some of Winslet's best movies were made when she was in her early 20s, like Sense and Sensibility and one of James Cameron’s highest-grossing movies Titanic. So, when the actress got to work with her then-21-year-old daughter on screen, she took a moment to reflect, and revealed that she couldn’t believe she was the same age as her daughter when she finished filming Titanic and got her first Oscar nomination.
Last December, Kate Winslet and her daughter, Mia Threapleton, starred in an episode of the Channel 4 anthology series I Am… with their episode "I Am Ruth," which was about a strained relationship between a mother and daughter due to social media. While being interviewed by Josh Horowitz, the Titanic actress put two and two together during their time on I Am Ruth, explaining that Threapleton was the same age as she was when filming Titanic. This movie she filmed with Leonardo DiCaprio went on to find great success, and she received her first Oscar nomination for Sense and Sensibility, and she couldn't quite believe it happened when she was so young, as she said:
You know what’s really crazy, at the age that she was when we shot this movie [I Am Ruth] it was only like nine months ago, so she was 21. Like 21 1/2 and actually, I was just done shooting Titanic at that age. And had been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Sense and Sensibility at that point, which is crazy. So I’m constantly saying to young actors, ‘That’s like the ridiculous version. Don’t aspire to that.’ That’s just like a freak, random, fortunate thing that happened to me a long, long time ago.
It’s true that at the young age of 19, Kate Winslet starred as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility which secured her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 68th Academy Awards. At 21, she survived a sinking ship in Titanic as Rose, and received her second Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Despite these excellent accomplishments, Winslet felt the movie that truly helped her realize she made it in Hollywood was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because after her having her daughter, she realized she could do it all. Not to mention, this movie got her another Oscar nomination for Best Actress. When you look at the trailer of I Am Ruth, you’ll see for yourself the emotionally riveting performances both of these ladies delivered, kind of making it seem like we're looking in a mirror.
It can be astonishing to see pieces of yourself living in your kids. Kate Winslet continues to talk about working with her daughter as she saw the little things that make her and Threapleton very much alike.
But I have had some very fortunate moments. And of course people say, ‘You make your own luck,’ and I’ve certainly worked incredibly hard and continue to, just because I don’t want to ever be shit. But if you take your foot off the gas, then things start to get a bit wiggly. And so I just refuse to ever do that. Now I look at my daughter and I do see, for a start there are moments where she does things with her face; I’m like, ‘That’s a me thing.’ ...She looks very different to me, she’s a very different person. She’s much different than me physically, shorter, we’re constructed in totally different ways. And emotionally obviously she’s got her own full-on thing going on. But sometimes I think, ‘Oh my face was like that in Sense & Sensibility.’ Or ‘My face was like that in Titanic.’ It’s really fun to kind of spot those things.
It’s a surreal moment to see yourself in someone else while still acknowledging they’re their own person. Now that I've seen how Winslet sees her daughter, I can't wait to watch both of them in future projects. As of late, Mia Threapleton appeared in six episodes of the series Dangerous Liaisons, and she is set to have a role in The Buccaneers, which will be available to those with an Apple TV+ subscription. As for her mother, Winslet will be reprising her role of Ronal in The Way of Water sequel Avatar 3 as well as portraying model and war photographer Lee Miller in the upcoming biopic Lee.
Kate Winslet and her daughter, Mia Threapleton, are one and the same when it comes to their impressive acting capabilities. I’d love to see Threapleton continue to follow in her mother’s footsteps while still establishing a path of her own in the industry. Take a look at our 2023 movie releases so you can follow the big-screen careers of this mother/daughter duo.
