Two of Winslet’s three children have followed her into the film industry, but are determined to make a name of their own, literally, with both making conscious decisions not to use her surname.
Daughter Mia Threapleton, 25, with whom Winslet starred in the Bafta-winning TV drama I Am Ruth, recently starred opposite Benico del Toro in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme.
Winslet’s son Joe Anders, 21, not only wrote the screenplay for Goodbye June, but last year appeared alongside his mum in Lee, and had a small role in 1917, directed by his father Sam Mendes.
Kate Winslet finds it offensive when people suggest that they are nepo babies.
“These kids are not getting a leg up,” she insists.
“Joe would say to me, ‘I don’t want people to think this film is just being made because you’re my mum’.
“The film would have been made with or without me. The script is so good. It was the script that attracted all these wonderful actors,” she argues.
“With Mia, I just try to say to my children, ‘follow your heart’.
“There are lots and lots of people in the world whose children go into a similar family business, whether it’s being a judge or a lawyer or a doctor. And it doesn’t surprise me at all that my children wanted to do something creative with their lives, having always expressed a great passion for writing and acting and music as well.
“But that doesn’t necessarily translate to being able to actually get jobs and actually gain respect from your peers and people around you. And both of them have separately carved their own paths.
“Part of it is actually teaching them to ignore the white noise of silly terms like nepo baby, which you can’t really do anything about.”
Goodbye June is in cinemas from Friday and on Netflix from Christmas Eve. The Holiday is on BBC iPlayer.
