Kate Winslet relives two haunting film experiences

Kate Winslet is the type to take her work home with her. The actress has two films coming this year, and making them has haunted her nights.

After filming The Mountain Between Us in which she and Idris Elba play strangers stranded on an icy, desolate mountain range when their plane crashes, “I would have panic dreams about my children being trapped under ice,” she said, nightmares that are just now subsiding. And for different reasons, she also lost sleep shooting Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel, set in 1950s Coney Island, in which Winslet is caught in an unfulfilling marriage and a dead-end job as a waitress in a clown house. Enter mobsters, and Justin Timberlake as a charismatic lifeguard.

 I like a challenge, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done a film that required such a level of physical exertion.”

“It’s a character who really, truly not just unravels, but becomes so utterly undone by what happens to her during the course of the story,” Winslet said.

From Wonder Wheel, she went right into The Mountain Between Us, directed by Hany Abu Assad and shot in the mountains of Western Canada. “We would fly up in helicopters to work every day,” she said. “We were very, very high up” — about 3,000 metres — “and very, very cold” — 37 Celsius below zero. To Winslet, that was the appeal.

In Woody Allen film ‘Wonder Wheel’.

“There’s a certain sense of satisfaction after having had three children and being 41 years old, and actually feeling probably fitter and stronger than ever,” she said. “It was like, I can put some of that physical strength to good use.”

Why pick an endurance test like Mountain Between Us?
I’m much more taken by an extreme set of circumstances than an easy, comfortable route. I like a challenge, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done a film that required such a level of physical exertion and stamina and commitment — and also overcoming a certain degree of fear every single day. Plus, I’m a much more cold than hot sort of person. If a script says, ‘It’s a sweltering hot day on a beach in Tahiti,’ I’m less interested.

Still, I bet a lot of people would be thrilled to be stranded on a mountain with Idris Elba.
Hell yeah! [Laughs] I could think of worse people to be trapped with. I haven’t worked with him before. I was really grabbed by the huge challenge [of] putting two actors on screen for the entire length of a movie. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to keep this interesting, otherwise we’re doomed.’ I think it was really good that we didn’t know each other — we discovered a lot about the other person. We got quite good at reading what the other person was thinking and needing — hot packs and hidden candy supplies. We would eat Maynards wine gums [a British gumdrop-like candy]. We called [them] our acting pills.

Kate Winslet in ‘The Mountain Between Us’.

What was the catalyst to get you from sheer terror to playing the part?
Here’s the catalyst — probably wasn’t going to get another go-round with Woody Allen, so it’s now or never. And it was an extraordinary part, that I could not believe he was asking me to play, so just the flattery of being offered the role was enough. The only reason I wouldn’t have done it would have been fear, and that is no way to live a life, man. Plus I knew my parents would be incredibly proud of me working with Woody Allen.

Did shooting the film live up to your expectations?
I loved every second. Those stories that you read of him being aloof, not talking to people, not rehearsing — he was fully engaged. He gave such good direction. We would rehearse every scene for most of the morning and then shoot, and yes, there were lots of 11- and 12-page scenes we were filming entirely in one shot. Some weeks, I would have 35 pages of dialogue. It was the most white-knuckle ride I have ever had in my life. I would wake up in the middle of the night, in sweats, about going to work the next day. And my hands would hurt — I had been sleeping with a clenched fist and pressing my nail into my fist. Now THAT is proper anxiety. So going from this unbelievably demanding character to 10,000 feet and -38 Celsius was like a holiday.

Idris Elba and Kate Winslet in ‘The Mountain Between Us’.

Did the allegations against Woody Allen give you pause?
Of course one thinks about it. But at the same time, I didn’t know Woody and I don’t know anything about that family. As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false. Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director. So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that’s the truth.

You’ve been acting since your teens. When you were starting out, did you think much about career longevity?
I very much thought about that, probably do still. You’re only as good as your last movie. When I started, I couldn’t believe I was really being cast until four or five movies in, and even then I couldn’t quite believe it. I was very much aware of watching young actresses come and go. I just have always felt that you have to dig deep and work hard. And I see it as real work. I don’t leave anything to chance. In terms of longevity, I always hope to be invited back, because I love it.

The Mountain Between Us releases in the UAE on November 23.