‘Mare Of Easttown’: Kate Winslet Refused Director’s Offer To Edit Her ‘Bulgy Belly’ Out Of A Sex Scene

I’ve always adored Kate Winslet and think she’s one of the most talented working actresses out there, and her new HBO series Mare of Easttown, which just ended on Sunday night, is proof of that. The series saw her character regularly downing cheesesteaks, wearing flannel, and not giving a crap about what she looked like because she had more important business to attend to. Fans have connected to Mare’s “realness” in the series, and now Winslet herself has revealed in an interview with the New York Times that she rejected the director’s offer to edit her “bulgy belly” out of a sex scene because she wanted to stay true to Mare and herself.

1. Director Craig Zobel likely felt he was doing Winslet a favor. By offering to show the actress’s body in a more “flattering” light, no doubt Zobel thought he was offering her a kindness by saying the scene could be edited. While his motivations were likely good ones, it’s sad to think that being seen as you are is considered such a bad thing that needs to be hidden.
2. Winslet had one response to Zobel’s offer. And that was: “Don’t you dare.” An outspoken advocate for women embracing themselves as they are, flaws and all, there was no way Winslet was going to have herself airbrushed on camera. Frankly, I don’t think anyone even noticed any “bulgy belly” during the scene where Mare and Richard have sex, but even if they did, so what?
3. She even sent back the Mare of Easttown promotional poster. Winslet admitted that she sent back the promotional poster twice because she wasn’t happy with how much airbrushing they did to her face. “I’m like: ‘Guys, I know how many lines I have by the side of my eye, please put them all back,'” she recalled.
4. She knows just how many people connected with Mare and understands why. “Listen, I hope that in playing Mare as a middle-aged woman – I will be 46 in October – I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done because there are clearly no filters,” she said. “She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life and where she comes from. I think we’re starved of that a bit.”
5. That being said, Winslet may cut back on the nude scenes in future. And it’s not because she’s embarrassed of her body! “It’s not even really an age thing, actually,” she said. “There comes a point where people are going to go: ‘Oh, here she goes again.'” Gotta love her!