Kate Winslet- Actor of the Week

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet has done so many period pieces she has been nicknamed Corset Kate! And thank goodness she has. Here are a few of the wonderful films she has done in the period genre (and perhaps one modern era film).

Kate Winslet, Sense and Sensibility 1995

Was there ever an actress who inhabited a role like Kate did with Marianne Dashwood?

Marianne: Can he love her? Can the soul be really be satisfied with such polite affections? To love is to burn - to be on fire, like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise...

Kate Winslet as Ophelia in Hamlet 1996

As the tragic, vulnerable, mad Ophelia in Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet. Remarkable!

Kate Winslet as Rose in Titanic 1997

As the young Rose Dewitt Bukater in Titanic, she had her true breakout role, for which she will be forever known. I love that outfit by the way!

Rose: You know, my dream has always been to run away and become an artist, Living in a garret poor but free!
Jack: You wouldn't last 2 days. There's no hot water and hardly any caviar.

Kate Winslet as Maddy LeClerc in Quills 2000

I really hated Quills, for the subject matter not for the acting. I don't think I will ever watch this again. But there she is, gorgeously corseted as usual.

Kate Winslet as Young Iris Murdoch in Iris 2001

As the young novelist Iris Murdoch, played opposite Hugh Bonneville as her husband John Bayley, she had a really meaty role and was a little less glamorous than some of her other roles.

Kate Winslet as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies in Finding Neverland 2004

Finding Neverland is a gem of a film. We tend to forget just how wonderful, so if you haven't seen this one in a while, you may want to revisit it. Just bring a big box of Kleenex!

Michael Llewelyn Davies: [about J.M. Barrie] Can we have him for supper?
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Have him to stay for supper, Michael. We're not cannibals.

Kate Winslet as Iris Simkins in The Holiday 2006

Alright, I know The Holiday isn't a period piece, but this is my blog and this is one of my favourite films, so there! I just love it, especially this time of year.

Iris: [to Jasper] I don't know, but I think what I've got is something slightly resembling... GUMPTION!

   

Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz in The Reader 2008

Kate won a Best Actress Oscar for her role as the intense Hanna Schmitz in The Reader.  Again, the film is fantastic, but I am not in a great hurry to see it again. I just like my films a little happier, I suppose.

Kate Winslet as April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road 2008

I never saw Revolutionary Road. The trailers didn't look appealing, much as I adore Kate and Leo. Anyone want to give me their take on whether or not it's worth seeing?
N.B. Jule left a comment below saying that Revolutionary Road is fabulous, so now I can't wait to see Kate and Leo in this one. Thanks Jule!

Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce 2011

Showing again how talented she is, Kate totally rocked as Mildred Pierce. A little more severe looking here, she demonstrates her amazing versatility.

Kate Winslet as a young girl

And I couldn't resist this adorable shot of Kate as a youngster. Who knew then how much the world would come to adore this ballsy actress. I for one, can't wait to see what she does in the future.

Rufus Sewell- Actor of the Week

Rufus Sewell

Rufus Sewell is my actor of the week. He is a hot commodity this week after appearing in Zen on PBS Masterpiece Mystery Sunday. By the way, the next two Sunday nights feature the other 2 episodes (this delightful series about an Italian detective was canceled after only 3 episodes). Americans can catch up on the one from this past Sunday night on the PBS website. The rest of us are out of luck!

Rufus Sewell as Count Adhemar in A Knight's Tale

Adhemar: You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting. In what world could you possibly beat me?

Rufus Sewell as lowlife Jasper Bloom in The Holiday

Jasper: I wish you could just accept knowing how confused I am about all this.
Iris: Okay, let me translate that. So, you are still engaged to be married?
Jasper: Yes, but, I mean...
Iris: Oh, my God.

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I always think of Rufus as a bad guy. I mean, he was truly horrible to our beloved Will Thatcher (Heath Ledger) in A Knight's Tale, one of my all time faves. He was also completely rotten to dear Kate Winslet in The Holiday. Can we ever forgive him for that? But he is a wonderful actor and has been in many beloved Period dramas.

Rufus Sewell as Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch. Be still my beating heart!

His first big Period role was as the talented, handsome but poor Will Ladislaw in Middlemarch. Check out those boots ladies!

Rufus Sewell as the hilariously smouldering Seth Starkadder in Cold Comfort Farm

OK, gaze into those eyes of Seth Starkadder in Cold Comfort Farm. And yet Kate Beckinsale seems unimpressed. Harumph!

Rufus Sewell as Charles II in "Charles II: The Power & the Passion"

OK, how many of you knew he played the titular role in Charles II: The Power & the Passion? Nobody? Well me neither although I do like the way he looks in the wig and the crown! I may have to track this one down.

If that has whetted your appetite, here are a few more Rufus Sewell films that you may want to check out!