SummitScreeningRoom/YouTube
There are some of us out there who believe that Kate Winslet tends to play the same roles, over and over again. And then there are others who believe that all of her roles are amazing, she can do no wrong, everybody needs to bow down, we can’t wait to see her in Divergent, etc., etc. But the truth is, Winslet tends to take on these really cool female characters, these complicated beings we admire in some way or another. We loved her as the beautiful and pampered yet defiant Rose in Titanic. As Sarah Pierce (Little Children) she was the quasi-anthropologist house wife doing any and everything to rebel against normalcy. As the orange-haired, quirky Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and even Hannah Schmitz in The Reader— a woman (who would go on to become a Nazi) having an affair with a teenage boy — she managed to gain the love and admiration of her audience. It’s called talent, and Winslet’s got more of it in her pinky finger than most of us have ever experienced.
However, one of the most exciting things about her new role as Jeanine Matthews in Divergent is the fact that she’s playing the bad guy. Now, knowing Winslet, she’ll find a way to deliver some nuance to this role so that things are little more complicated. But ultimately, as a supporting character to Shailene Woodley‘s Tris Prior, she’s the bad guy. And we need more of this in Winslet’s career! We’d love to see her start taking on more villainous parts. It’s hard to imagine Winslet playing a character we would loathe, but the the very thought of it is exciting. Though it has to be said that she did come off like, well, kind of a jerk in her 2011 movie Carnage (she’s also done some darker stuff in movies like Heavenly Creatures and Romance & Cigarettes) — it’d be nice to see her explore this side a little more!
Luckily, we may not have very long to wait. Winslet was recently cast in the upcoing dirty cop crime thriller Triple Nine, and there’s a good chance that she’s playing a mob wife who’s orchestrating a very intense, illegal, bloody operation. If this is the case, hopefully this is the beginning of a new wave of Winslet. And to that we say, yes please!
Divergent hits theaters March 21. You can check showtimes and purchase advanced tickets at Movietickets.com.
Follow @Hollywood_com Follow @shannonmhouston
