Kate Winslet Was 'Terrified to Go to Sleep' After 'Horrific' Post-'Titanic' Fame

Nearly three decades after 'Titanic' launched her into global superstardom, Kate Winslet is opening up about the dark side of that fame, revealing the media intrusion was so "horrific" she was left terrified in her own home.

In a December 21 interview with BBC Radio 4’s 'Desert Island Discs', Winslet, now 50, recounted the tumultuous period following the film's 1997 release. At just 22 years old, her role as Rose DeWitt Bukater made her an instant household name, and a prime target for the tabloids.

"It was horrific," Winslet told the program. "There were people tapping my phone. They were just everywhere. And I was just on my own. I was terrified to go to sleep."

The actress said she was especially disturbed by the lengths people went to invade her privacy, which included reporters rummaging through her trash cans to "try and figure out what diet I was on or wasn't on."

"I wasn't ready for that world." - Kate Winslet

As the film's popularity exploded—it stayed at No. 1 for 15 weeks—Winslet saw her face plastered on magazine covers, often accompanied by what she called "awful, terrible, actually abusive names." She has spoken for years about the intense body-shaming she experienced from the media during that time.

While grateful for the movie's success, she admitted her world was "totally turned upside down." She and co-star Leonardo DiCaprio became objects of intense tabloid fascination, with paparazzi constantly at their heels.

History Repeats Itself

The intense scrutiny didn't stop there. A decade later, the media intrusion ramped up again when she divorced her second husband, director Sam Mendes, in 2010. "I was being followed by paparazzi in New York City with my two small kids, who wanted to, of course, know the reason why Sam and I had split up,” she shared.

Her coping mechanism that time around? "You just keep your mouth closed, you put your head down, and you keep walking," she said. "And you try and put your hands over your children’s ears. You lean on your friends, you just keep going."

PRISM Insight: Winslet's experience highlights the brutal nature of 90s tabloid culture, a precursor to today's social media-fueled scrutiny. While the platforms have changed from print to pixels, the fundamental challenge remains: how do we balance public interest with a public figure's right to a private life? The line is blurrier than ever, and the cost of fame continues to be relentlessly high.