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KATE WINSLET, SEAN PENN AND PENELOPE CRUZ (LEFT TO RIGHT) WITH THEIR AWARDS FOR BEST ACTRESS, BEST ACTOR AND BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE, AT THE 81ST ACADEMY AWARDS AT THE KODAK THEATRE, LOS ANGELES © IAN WEST/PA ARCHIVE/ PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES

Her first real taste of success, however, came when she landed a role on the BBC’s Children’s sci-fi serial, Dark Season. This role was followed by appearances in the made-for-TV movie, AngloSaxon Attitudes in 1992, the sitcom Get Back, and an episode of popular medical drama, Casualty, in 1993. But despite the work beginning to flow in, Winslet still felt like the awkward one out, “My weight fluctuated and I was a chubby kid. I was always the wrong one at the audition, it seemed.” Attempting to gain some footing in the film industry, Winslet auditioned for a part in Peter Jackson's film Heavenly Creatures. She was cast as Juliet Hulme, a teenager who assists in the murder of the mother of her best friend. This turned out to be a pivotal role for Winslet, who says she owes much of her success to Jackson. Winslet smiles broadly when she recalls the time she found out she had got the part, “I was working in a tiny delicatessen and was literally putting together a customer’s turkey sandwich, when the phone rang. I told my agent to hold the line while I finished putting the mayo and such on the bread. That was my last day working there!”

The film included Winslet's singing debut, an a cappella version of "Sono Andati", an aria from La Bohème, which was included on the film’s soundtrack. Released to favourable reviews in 1994, Winslet received her first notable critical appraise from The Washington Post, which published the comment, "As Juliet, Winslet is a bright-eyed ball of fire, lighting up every scene she’s in.” Winslet went on to receive an Empire Award and a London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for her performance. Winslet also received recognition for her subsequent role in Sense and Sensibility (1995).

But few could have predicted the success that followed from her next role, as Rose DeWitt in Titanic (1997), where she played the lead alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. Gwyneth Paltrow, Claire Danes, and Gabrielle Anwar are all said to have been considered for the part, but when they turned it down, Winslet campaigned heavily for the role. Her persistence, as well as her talent, eventually convinced director, James Cameron, to cast her.

Titanic not only went on to become the highest grossing film at the time, taking more than £1.843 billion ($2.6 billion) in box-office receipts worldwide, it also led to Winslet being nominated for most of the film industry’s high-profile awards, and she even scooped a European Film Award. More important for Winslet, however, were some of the friendships she forged with other people involved in the film, including Leonardo DeCaprio, who remains a close friend today. “There are not many that I hold in as high esteem as Leo, he is such a wonderful person; an overwhelming presence.” The feeling is obviously mutual, as DeCaprio described Winslet as an amazing woman and, “an ultimate professional who keeps pushing herself to an emotional truth in her work.” Fame was a new development for Winslet, and one which she still confesses to be unaccustomed to. “It seems daft that I’m famous, and I’ve not really got to grips with that. My skin still crawls if you call me a movie star. I get embarrassed. I think, ‘don't be ridiculous’. Maybe it's because I'm British. To me, Julia Roberts - that's a movie star, but when people call me one, that, I think, is an enormous compliment but, my God, is that a responsibility!” The year following the release of Titanic, Winslet auditioned for the small but pivotal role of Lucy Steele in the adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, starring alongside Emma

Thompson, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. The film became a financial and critical success, resulting in even more awards for Winslet, including a BAFTA, a Screen Actors' Guild Award, and nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. In 1996, Winslet starred in both Jude and Hamlet, which led Time Magazine to state, "Winslet is worthy of the camera's scrupulous adoration. She's perfect, a modernist ahead of her time.” When she was interviewed about her BAFTA award, she paid homage to her country of birth, saying, “It's very important for me to make the statement that I am English and just because I've done one really big film, it doesn't mean that I don't want to keep a finger in the fantastic British film industry and do films like this. I’m really proud of being English… But I never dared dream of such a success... I realise it's extraordinary for a British actress.” Charismatic, caring and family-focused, Winslet is also well known for her charity work. In 2001, she voiced the character of Belle in the animated motion picture, A Christmas Carol: The Movie, based on Charles Dickens’ classic novel. For the film, Winslet recorded the song "What If,” which was released in November 2001 as a single. The proceeds of the single were donated to two of Winslet's favorite charities, the N.S.P.C.C. and the Sargeant Cancer Foundation for Children. A European top ten hit, the song reached number one in Austria, Belgium and Ireland. Since then, Winslet has gone on to demonstrate her versatility as an actor through a plethora of characters that are as diverse as they are mesmerising. Her perfect performances have continued to draw positive comments from film critics, and she has received accolades for films as wide-ranging as Quills (2000), Iris (2001), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).