To celebrate the 30th anniversary of 1994’s Heavenly Creatures starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, my podcast “What Would Kate Do?” looks back at this movie from an acting perspective. But I was stalling on recording it, thinking what could I possibly learn from an acting perspective that we haven’t already learned from Kate in the most powerful ways since then. Then I realized there are similarities between this film and the most recent movie Kate is promoting, which is LEE, about the photojournalist Lee Miller.

I talk about many things including:

·       Parallels in how Kate uses her eyes to convey emotion in both films, and how much more she can now tell with her eyes in a movie like Lee.

·       How Kate has grown as an actress from then to now.

·       Times where a crying Juliet Hulme reminded me of a broken-down Lee Miller. I think I’ve seen Kate cry on screen so many times, it’s starting to look “familiar”. Where in Mare of Easttown she manages to hold the tears in, which has a totally different (and powerful) effect.

·       A reference to “hard dick day, boys” on set, that is unsettling in today’s #metoo environment.

·       What if the Kate now goes back to do Heavenly Creatures, what additional layers she’d be able to add to the character, due to her many acting and life experiences she’s had since.

·       How utterly unfair it is of me to do an acting podcast on Heavenly Creatures Kate when it was her very first film role, and she since has had 30 more years of acting and life experiences to access in her craft.

·       Kate is nominated for a 2025 Golden Globe playing Lee Miller in Lee: Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. (Also nominated for playing Elena Vernham in the Regime: Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television).

·       Melanie Lynskey also demonstrated a powerful performance in this film, in her first role EVER (movie or TV).

·       The differences between Heavenly Creatures and Lee from a female empowerment perspective. Lee Miller has much more power, strength, courage, determination, resilience, kindness, goodness, etc. to showcase. We can be inspired by Lee, whereas we can’t say the same about Juliet in Heavenly Creatures, though we can perhaps understand Juliet’s emotions / feelings. And it’s a great movie!

·       Thank you to @adoringkatew on X for finding and sharing so many Kate Winslet news / interviews, especially during the recent Lee promotions. Can’t help but think she’s played a part in Kate’s nominations too. 😊

·       How Kate is so proud of her Golden Globe nomination for Lee, and how it will inspire more people to see it. I’ve seen it 6 times now, definitely worth seeing so that you are informed of the vital contributions Lee Miller made.

Interview clip at beginning is from a recent interview with Pete Hammond.

Heavenly Creatures stars Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, and is directed by Peter Jackson. LEE stars Kate Winslet, Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard, Josh O'Connor, Andy Samberg & Noémie Merlant.

#Lee #LeeMiller #LeeMovie #HeavenlyCreatures #KateWinslet

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

"Bless our love, always." To celebrate The Regime starring Kate Winslet &  Matthias Schoenaerts, coming out in the U.K. on April 8, and now that I've seen 5/6 episodes, I can go more into "What Would Kate Do".  This is not a review nor are there spoilers. It's about what we can learn from Kate from an acting perspective. Can you guess who the child is that says "sorry" in the clip at the beginning? (wink)

This is a different type of episode as I'll be mostly following some GIFs created by https://elenavernham.tumblr.com/ in this analysis. After quickly looking at scenes with Martha Plimpton and Hugh Grant. How Kate pulls off playing someone who is narcissistic & repulsive, yet "oddly lovable" (Kate's words).

Some mic problems which I'll fix by next episode (just a few words cut out).

Directed by Stephen Frears. Stars Kate Winslet, Martha Plimpton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Hugh Grant, and Andrea Riseborough. 

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Listen to this BEAUTIFUL discussion with @unsinkable in a co-hosted podcast about Kate Winslet in The Holiday from 2006!

Kate uses her real accent in this film (apparently for the first time in her career), but seems to play a real version of herself (down to earth, compassionate, goofy / real sense of humor). Thanks Brenda ( @kleoofdreams on Twitter) for suggesting that this movie allowed "more of Kate's personality to shine through". And yes, does Iris shine! :D

We discuss many elements including:

• How Kate can showcase wonderful acting without saying a single word (when she explores the L.A. house for the first time).
• How for a rom-com Kate showcases her acting talent by being very vulnerable and real (including real tears) in several scenes.
• How this movie and what Iris went through, was similar to experiences that L.A. Beadles went through, and how the line "You’re supposed to be the leading lady of your own life" spoke so much to L.A. and speaks to me too.
• Kate's most fricking fricking (yes double) amazing real monolog near the end of the movie, and demonstrates what only truly talented actors / actresses can do.
• How Kate pulls off a line that could be "CORNY" but Kate turns it into one of the most memorable and powerful lines in the film.
• We also discuss Internet fodder about "how could someone like Kate Winslet fall for someone like Jack Black", how annoying & uneducated this thought is, and how people should instead focus on the people that are Iris and Miles.
• At the time this movie was filmed, Kate had not won an Oscar yet, but had been nominated 4 times. The look she gives Arthur's Oscar in this film, tee hee.
• Finally, how this movie illustrates female self-worth and empowerment.

The Holiday stars Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, Jude Law, & Eli Wallach, along with Rufus Sewell and Edward Burns. :) Directed by Nancy Meyers.

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Welcome back, and welcome to Season 2!

Yay! Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, I'm able to talk about LEE, Kate Winslet's film directed by Ellen Kuras, where Kate is real life WWII photojournalist Lee Miller.  NO SPOILERS in this podcast. I'm so lucky to be able to see this film 4 times at TIFF (2 times at the public viewings, and 2 times as press & industry). Should note that a reason I got in as press & industry is because of this acting podcast, ha ha. Extremely happy to have shared this world premiere viewing with my friend Brenda ( @kleoofdreams on Twitter), a fellow Winsletor and admirer of Kate's work.

What did Kate do for LEE? I talk about her preparations, education, and HARD WORK Kate did leading up to portraying Lee, how Kate uses her eyes and breath to let us see the atrocities that Lee sees, how she LISTENS to what is being said to her and the things around her, the physical "risks" that Kate takes, the parallels between the struggles (and eventual overcoming of these challenges) that both Lee Miller and Kate Winslet and its filmmakers endured just by being women, and the non-acting support Kate put into the film including funding Lee and supporting its actors including Andy Samberg. Oh, and forget Evan Peters' drunk acting in Mare of Easttown, let's admire Kate's drunk acting in Lee! ;)

And HELP! This film still needs a U.S. distributor. It definitely deserves one. Especially for this kind of film led by females. It's a worthy film to see: To learn history, its realities, the struggles and achievements of women, and more.

If you want to read my review of LEE, head over to my Twitter https://twitter.com/ahung  Thanks to Michelle Hughes on Facebook for helping me secure a ticket to the public screening.

 LEE stars Kate Winslet, Alexander Skarsgård, Andrea Riseborough, Marion Cotillard, Josh O'Connor, Andy Samberg & Noémie Merlant. To find out more about Lee Miller, go to the Lee Miller Archives https://leemiller.co.uk And yep, Brenda & I noticed Joe Anders right away, playing American GI Frank Kleeman.

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Update: Thanks to some amazing Kate Winslet & genuine movie fans, I was able to get a ticket to each of the public Lee screenings. So I was able to see Lee 4 times at TIFF (2 public, 2 press/industry). And I did post purely a review of Lee (read on my Twitter @ahung ). But I won't be able to talk further about Lee nor promote it until the strike is over.
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We are ending Season 1 of "What Would Kate Do?" with an explanation of this hiatus. As a working actor myself, I fully support the SAG-AFTRA strike. Thus, I'm avoiding doing anything that is in violation of the strike rules, because I want to join the unions in Canada and the U.S. one day.

This means that we're not allowed to talk about any possible SAG related work, whether past, present, or future. This also means I'm not allowed to talk about Lee, the upcoming movie about photographer Lee Miller that stars Kate Winslet and is directed by Ellen Kuras. Because it probably has SAG actors in it. I really don't know all the rules, and they are often confusing. Trust me, I'd love to be able to talk about how excited I am about this movie, and talk about it once I get to see it.

We also talk about why I will be unable to see this movie at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). I bought a membership for pre-sale tickets only to have the tickets sell out in 30 seconds. Only those who can donate upwards of thousands of dollars for the highest tier membership and donation levels are guaranteed tickets just to see a movie there. As a working actor, I'm unable to do this, and it is unwise for me to spend this much money just to see a movie. This shows why we need to be #SAGAFTRA #strong.

We end with some amazing tidbits of acting lessons that we've learned from Kate over the years. There are some constant consistent learnings that Kate has talked about and demonstrated not just recently, but throughout her career. The wonderful conglomeration of bright sticky notes in her script binder, for example. And the simple beautiful fact that she loves acting and the hard work that goes with it. Thanks Kate.

Please support me in supporting the SAG AFTRA strike in order to support actors and support those who simply love film, and yes, who may simply love Kate Winslet as an actress. 

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Probably a complete shock that not only did I do this movie for this podcast, but it's one of my favorite Kate Winslet performances, even in its very short segment run time of about 7 minutes 50 seconds. I'M SORRY to Kate who probably doesn't want to remember this film, but from an acting perspective, it's awesome. (There, I said it). Should note that I've ONLY watched Kate's part in this film, never bothered or wanted to see the other vignettes.
Every single Kate facial and vocal reaction with Hugh is magical because Kate is so invested in the (incredulous) situation her character is in. (She appears to be the only person in the restaurant that can see Hugh's balls hanging from his neck)! So what would Kate do? Be so invested into a character and its situation, no matter how ridiculous it may be. Lesson. Learned. And one doesn't need to pre-plan any/everything if one is so immersed in a character, because if you commit to it, it will be so real.

Movie 43 is available on Netflix, but you only need to start from about 2 minutes 50 seconds into the movie.

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Episode 5 of "What Would Kate Do", as in what would Kate Winslet do as an actress, is about the 2011 HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce, directed by Todd Haynes. This series is an absolute actors' paradise. Also stars Guy Pearce (Kate's childhood crush!), Evan Rachel Wood (amazing), Brian F. O'Byrne, and Mare Winningham. You're in for a treat!

Note that there are SPOILERS of Mildred Pierce in this podcast. This podcast is not a review, it's a commentary on how Kate uses all the resources available to her, to maximize the truthfulness and honesty in a role.

We review acting related learnings from Kate's masterclass acting work including:

• How she helps carry this entire mini-series, having to be in every single scene, with the support of her co-stars especially the talented Evan Rachel Wood.
• How she uses all the faculties available to her, whether in her, on her, or around her, to fully bring in the viewer.
• How the camera can just focus in on her face and her reactions, and how she can display so much of her character's thoughts and emotions, without her having to say a word.
• How she uses the dynamics and layers of her character and its relationships, to realize a fully complete version of the character.
• The many love / sex scenes she gets to do with Guy (or to be more accurate: that Guy gets to do with her), and the assemblage of different emotions that are involved.
• How Kate manages to make me have so much feelings and empathy for a character I wouldn't normally have such compassionate feelings for.
• How fear encourages Kate to choose the roles she plays, and how the HORRIFIC realizations about Veda in Part Five fuel her intentions as an actress.
• How far her American accent has come by this time, since Titanic.
• A few audio clips from Mildred Pierce that showcase Kate's talents as an actress.
• Evan Rachel Wood saying afterwards that she would marry Kate Winslet if she could!
• And so much more!

The reason I'm doing this mini-series now is to time it with the upcoming Todd Haynes celebration / retrospective in Paris, May 10 to May 29, 2023, at The Centre Pompidou. Which also coincides with his movie "May December" premiering at Cannes, starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. You can find out more here: https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/programme/agenda/evenement/pE2bV6f  

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

A quick episode to talk about "What would Kate Do?" (i.e. what would Kate Winslet do as an actress) in the recently released first trailer for HBO's 2024 series The Regime (formerly known as The Palace, but the name was probably changed to avoid conflict with another series). Even in this under 2 minutes trailer, we learn so much by (over, ha ha) analyzing what we can learn from Kate from an acting perspective, how she uses every part of herself, physically and voice-wise, to fully immerse herself in her character. A great actor's guide, even in such a short trailer!

Note that we haven't been told if this is a satirical drama and/or comedy, so keep this in mind.

Directed by Stephen Frears. Stars Kate Winslet, Martha Plimpton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Hugh Grant, and Andrea Riseborough. 

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Episode 3 of "What Would Kate Winslet do?" focuses on the 2017 movie "The Mountain Between Us" starring Kate Winslet & Idris Elba, directed by Hany Abu-Assad, and based on the 2010 book by Charles Martin. 

Proud to announce that I have a guest: The "Unsinkable" L.A. Beadles, from the accomplished podcast of the same name. We had great fun & laughs discussing this movie, including:

• Why we love Kate as an actress.
• Why L.A. loves this movie, and Angie doesn't ha ha. L.A. loves this movie because it reminds her why she doesn't take s**t from anybody. #GirlPower
• Why Kate may have done this movie, and how it led to her forever love of Vancouver and Honey's Donuts.
• How "refreshing" (one of L.A.'s favorite words) this movie is, as it has 2 "older" leading persons playing a romantic couple.
• Differences between how men and women are viewed on film, and how there is much more needed to progress women on screen.
• Key scenes in this movie that demonstrate what Kate does to truthfully portray her character, including her breaths / breathing, looks, glances, stares, what's done in silence between 2 characters, how to act with a dog, and more!
• The acting lessons learned from (yes) the love scene, including the "exploration" moments before the lovemaking. AND Idris Elba and his foot fetish. And L.A.'s  love of sex scenes on film and wanting more of them (wink).
• Occasional similarities to Mare Sheehan (Mare of Easttown), and how this relates to acting and its challenges. Oh, and a MILF tangent!
• A tantalizing teaser for an upcoming podcast interview that L.A. has on a not-yet-released documentary about the 1997 movie Titanic, called Ship of Dreams!

You must check out L.A.'s thoroughly enjoyable and educational podcast, Unsinkable, at https://linktr.ee/unsinkablepod

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!

Our 2nd episode of "What Would Kate Do?" is about the 2015 movie Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender. Kate plays real-life marketing executive Joanna Hoffman, a key person in Steve's life.  Also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels, Katherine Waterston, and Sarah Snook. Remember that this is not a movie review, this is an honest, fun, and insightful perspective on what would Kate do as an actress, and also what the character/movie does to promote female strength and empowerment. Looks at key scenes and how Kate approaches and performs her character, how she's present with the other actor(s), what she gives to and receives from the other actor, how she uses her entire physical and mental self in the role, her breath, articulations, choices, preparation, and more. #GirlPower

I forget to mention in the summary of this episode the SECRETS you can have about your character that nobody else, including the audience, knows about. And how this can help any actor inhabit their character.

Movie is directed by Danny Boyle. Writer is Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by Walter Isaacson. Producer is Scott Rudin (something that matters very much in this episode ha ha).

Link to selfie that Kate sent to the producer, to help her secure this role: https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/2016/01/02/a5938e5c-a5a3-4a2e-b3bb-ab18bcc334d4/kate-winslet-selfie-as-joanna-hoffman-244.jpg

Link to 2 key parts of a cast panel of all men (other than Kate) that truly show Kate's dominance as a well respected woman and actress (and also her humor and grace).
https://youtu.be/gn40Koc1PO0?t=649 and https://youtu.be/gn40Koc1PO0?t=1045 

Let us know your feedback by emailing whatwouldkatedo AT {ignore text} shaw.ca

You can contact this podcast at whatwouldkatedo {at} shaw.ca

Thank you Rumble House https://www.facebook.com/rumblehouseliveart/ for doing the podcast artwork for us!