Kate Winslet, actor

Kate Winslet is an actor who achieved global fame playing Rose DeWitt Bukater, opposite Leonard DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, in the 1997 James Cameron epic Titanic. During her career she has won five BAFTAs, two Emmys, five Golden Globes and an Academy Award for her role in the Reader.

Kate was born in Reading in 1975 and attended Redroofs School for the Performing Arts in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Her film debut came in 1994 when she played a teenage killer in Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures. The following year she played Marianne Dashwood opposite Emma Thompson’s Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee. Kate’s performance earned her a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

She went on to consolidate her reputation as one of the most versatile actors of her generation by starring in a list of popular and critically acclaimed films including Hideous Kinky, Iris, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Holiday.

Last year Kate directed her first film, Goodbye June, starring Helen Mirren, Timothy Spall and Andrea Riseborough.

Kate has three children and lives in West Sussex with her husband Ned and her family.

DISC ONE: Georgia on my Mind - Roger Winslet and Sophie Breakenridge

DISC TWO: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs - Brian and Michael

DISC THREE: Kiss from a Rose - Seal

DISC FOUR: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald

DISC FIVE: Nuvole Bianche - Ludovico Einaudi

DISC SIX: Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi - Radiohead

DISC SEVEN: Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes

DISC EIGHT: Pump up the Jam - Technotronic

BOOK CHOICE: Outside: Recipes for a Wilder Way of Eating by Gill Meller

LUXURY ITEM: Freshly ground coffee

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Georgia on my Mind – Roger Winslet and Sophie Breakenridge

Presenter: Lauren Laverne

Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many actors away over the years including Dame Emma Thompson, Cate Blanchett and Dame Helen Mirren. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.