Kate Winslet was 17 years-old when she made her auspicious film debut as an extroverted but tubercular young girl who constructs a murderous fantasy world with her best friend in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994). Since then, her rise to stardom has been sure and steady. The pale, blonde Winslet possesses a soft, sensuous, old-fashioned beauty that lends itself to costume dramas, the genre in which Winslet has made her mark.

Born and raised in Reading, England, Winslet is the daughter of stage actors and her grandparents managed a repertory theater. She followed in the family footsteps at age 11 when she began studying drama. She made her professional debut on television as a spokeschild for a popular British cereal. Winslet attended a performing arts high school; following graduation in 1991, she launched her stage career appearing in adaptations of Adrian Mole and Peter Pan.

Following the critical success of her film debut, Winslet was cast as a princess in Disney's A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995). That year, she played a key role in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. Winslet earned many kudos, including an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actress." Winslet continued getting good reviews for her work in Jude the Obscure (1996) and Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet (1996), but did not rocket to major stardom until she played the romantic lead opposite Leonardo Di Caprio in James Cameron's mega-blockbuster Titanic (1997). Again, Winslet's work garnered her an Oscar nomination.