Kate Winslet might play Evan Rachel Wood's mother in HBO's Depression-era miniseries "Mildred Pierce," but on set, she helped Wood do things that most mothers wouldn't. Like fully disrobing for the camera.
"She was very nervous actually," Winslet says. "I remember doing my first full-on nude scene when I was 19, and I was absolutely terrified, so I knew how she felt."
The scene comes at a crucial moment of the five-part series, which premieres Sunday on HBO. So Winslet encouraged Wood to think of getting naked as an acting challenge, testing herself to see if she could get the viewer to focus on what was happening with her character internally, rather than externally.
"By shying away from the scene, she was depriving herself of this great opportunity to be empowered by that moment," Winslet says. "So I said to Evan, 'You know what, here's the thing. People are going to be talking about this scene for years, and you're gonna be in it. And you're gonna look back in years to come and feel so happy that you did it."
Winslet laughs. "It doesn't matter how perfect a person's body might be," she says. "You’re still taking your clothes off."
"She was very nervous actually," Winslet says. "I remember doing my first full-on nude scene when I was 19, and I was absolutely terrified, so I knew how she felt."
The scene comes at a crucial moment of the five-part series, which premieres Sunday on HBO. So Winslet encouraged Wood to think of getting naked as an acting challenge, testing herself to see if she could get the viewer to focus on what was happening with her character internally, rather than externally.
"By shying away from the scene, she was depriving herself of this great opportunity to be empowered by that moment," Winslet says. "So I said to Evan, 'You know what, here's the thing. People are going to be talking about this scene for years, and you're gonna be in it. And you're gonna look back in years to come and feel so happy that you did it."
Winslet laughs. "It doesn't matter how perfect a person's body might be," she says. "You’re still taking your clothes off."
