Kate Winslet is one of the most successful, sought-after, and renowned actresses working in the industry. She is the ultimate professional and constantly delivers truthful performances, no matter what medium she's working in. Indeed, there is no shortage of iconic roles the forty-seven-year-old actress has played as she has been a part of some of the biggest movies of all time, from the movie that propelled her into stardom, James Cameron’s Titanic, to now working on another one of the highest-grossing franchises of all time in Cameron's highly-anticipated Avatar 2.
Updated November 2nd, 2022: If you're a fan of the brilliant actress Kate Winslet, you'll be happy to know this article has been updated with additional content and films.
Winslet has received seven Academy Award nominations during her career for acting and took home the Oscar for Best Actress in 2009 for her portrayal of Hanna Schmitz in The Reader. In addition to this, Winslet has also received an Emmy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critic’s Choice Movie Award for her work on screen. Here are Kate Winslet’s best performances, ranked.
12 Little Children
Kate Winslet earned an Oscar-nomination for Best Actress when she portrayed a woman struggling to accept her life as a mother and wife in 2006's Little Children, a psychological romantic drama co-starring Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly and Jackie Earle Haley. In the adaptation of the Tom Perrotta novel, Winslet shines as the frustrated Sarah, who after discovering her husband is addicted to internet porn seeks comfort in the arms of a married man and father of her child's friend (Wilson).
The drama features a poignant and piercing look at suburban life and the actress superbly embraces the emotional complexity of the character. This was filmmaker Todd Field's last film for 16 years before making a triumphant return in 2022 with the incredible TÁR.
11 Wonder Wheel
In 2017, Kate Winslet starred as Ginny Rannell in Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel alongside Juno Temple, Justin Timberlake, and Jim Belushi. While Wonder Wheel may not have been as successful as most of Winslet's films, her portrayal of Ginny is beyond incredible. Ginny is an unsuccessful actress stuck living a life she doesn't identify with. Her big dreams and wild emotions control her day-to-day existence as she is struggling to create a new life for herself that is ultimately doomed to fail.
10 Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce is a five-part miniseries directed by Todd Haynes for HBO. Adapted from the classic 1941 novel, Mildred Pierce, Kate Winslet stars as the young Pierce herself alongside Evan Rachel Wood, Melissa Leo, James LeGros, and Guy Pearce (with whom she also worked on HBO and Winslet's most recent miniseries Mare of Easttown). This project was very well received and earned Winslet an Emmy and Golden Globe win. Mildred Pierce remains one of the best HBO miniseries.
9 Ammonite
This film is one of Winslet's more recent works that tell a story of love, passion, sorrow, and empowerment. Ammonite is a romantic drama that was released in 2020 and directed by the gifted Francis Lee. Winslet plays Mary Anning, a real-life fossil collector and paleontologist who made great finds in her field, but was rarely credited for her work due to the fact that she was a woman scientist living in the early eighteen hundreds. Saoirse Ronan plays Winslet's love interest Charlotte Murchinson and together the two are electric on screen.
8 The Dressmaker
The Dressmaker is a thriller/drama directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse starring Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis, and Hugo Weaving. The film follows a dressmaker with a troubled past who returns to her hometown seeking vengeance. The film received several nominations at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA) including wins for both Kate Winslet and Judy Davis in the category of Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.
7 Steve Jobs
This film tells the true story of a genius and his rise to success. Kate Winslet plays Joanna Hoffman, the right-hand person and "work wife" to Steve Jobs, the businessman and creator of Apple played by Michael Fassbender. Both Winslet and Fassbender's performances in Steve Jobs are brilliant and received such praise that they each were nominated for Academy Awards that year in the category of Best Supporting Actress and Best Actor, respectively.
6 Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road is the second collaboration from Winslet and her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. Ten years after playing two of the most iconic characters in cinema, Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, they teamed up again this time to play Frank and April Wheeler.
The film follows Frank and April as they struggle to make their marriage work in an environment that they can no longer relate to. Desperate to find adventure and a new purpose, they decide to pick up and move to Paris, but complications arise when April finds out she is pregnant. Revolutionary Road was directed by Winslet's second husband Sam Mendes and earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
5 Sense and Sensibility
In one of her earliest breakthrough roles, Winslet portrayed the reckless and romantic teenager Marianne Dashwood opposite Emma Thompson's Elinor in the 1995 Jane Austen adaptation Sense and Sensibility. The critically-lauded period drama follows the spirited sisters as they search for love and discover their hopes and dreams despite their constantly evolving surroundings.
The film features knockout performances by Winslet and Thompson, with both ladies earning Oscar nominations for their renditions of the literary characters; Thompson would ultimately win the accolade for Best Adapted Screenplay.
4 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
One of the most iconic and eccentric characters Winslet has gotten to play is definitely Clementine Kruczynski in Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Winslet is best known for her work in serious dramas and period pieces which makes this project with Jim Carrey seem like a surprise, but the chemistry between the two is incredible, and the film quickly became a fan favorite. Even eighteen years after its initial release, the film is still finding new audiences and the story as well as the characters continue to resonate with people.
3 The Reader
The Reader is arguably one of the most important roles in Winslet's career as it won her the Academy Award for Best Actress after previously being nominated five times. Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz, a bus conductor living in Germany who falls in love with a much younger man named Michael Berg (played by both David Kross and Ralph Fiennes). Many years later after their relationship has ended Michael finds out the Hanna is on trial for a Nazi war crime. Winslet gives one of the most passionate, heartbreaking, and chilling performances of her career.
2 Mare of Easttown
In spring of 2021, Mare of Easttown seemed to be all anyone could talk about. The HBO limited series grabbed the attention of viewers all over the world, so much so that the season finale became the most-watched episode on HBO ever. Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a small town police investigator who appears to be tough as nails, holding her family and town together but in reality is grieving and battling her own demons just like the rest of us. The show received major critical acclaim and won numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.
1 Titanic
There is no doubt that Kate Winslet's most successful, iconic, and recognizable role is that of Rose DeWitt Bukater in James Cameron's Titanic. Released in 1997, Titanic is responsible for some of the most important scenes in cinema and was revolutionary to the world of film in terms of special and digital effects. The story of Jack and Rose is timeless and twenty-five years after it's release fans still go crazy over seeing Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet together. Titanic received eleven Academy Award wins in 1998 including Best Picture.