Hostess Kristin Malia: Welcome back to E!’s look at the Golden Globe nominated women of film. [To co-host Scott Lasky] Well, Scott, did you know that Kate Winslet actually got her start dancing opposite the Honey Monster in a commercial for kids’ cereal? I bet you didn’t know that.

Scott: But what we do remember is Kate’s transformation into an international star when she played the role of Rose, the passionate aristocrat, in James Cameron’s Titanic.

Cameron [at awards reception]: Of course, a lot of the critical praise for the film is centered around Kate’s work [she is standing next to him, listening, and shakes her head in embarrassment] and Leonardo’s work, and the other actors as well. [Looking at Kate] No, No, come on, come on, that’s why I wanted you guys up there [on stage with him when he won, as producer, the Golden Globe for Best Picture-Drama].

Kate [during the same interview]: For me, I mean, being nominated for the Golden Globe - with such an extraordinary category of women - as far as I was concerned was just such an honor and acknowledgement of what Titanic meant to all of us, so I was really proud to be there representing the film in such a way.

Kristin: [voice-over]: Titanic gave Kate her second Academy Award nomination, making her the youngest actress to receive two Academy nods. This year, Kate’s a Golden Globe nominee for Iris. But her first break was at 17 when she was she was cast as an obsessive adolescent in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. A year later, Kate beat out more than a hundred other hopefuls in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility. Kate projected her enthusiasm into the role and received her very first Oscar nomination.

Kate [clip from interview done to promote S&S]: Sense and Sensibility was just so massive, you know, that I kind of thought this is the second film that I was doing. And also, it was so long since I had done Heavenly Creatures, and I think I just wanted to kind of just get on with it and get into it. And, probably, you know... was probably trying to be too much. And Ang just was, you know, kind of calming me down and getting me balanced, and getting me buoyant, really, in a way.

Kristin: Winslet retreated into some independent movies with 1998’s Hideous Kinky and Holy Smoke in 1999 in which she plays a rebellious soul searcher.

Kate [interview at LA Holy Smoke premiere]: I read the script, and I saw who this girl was, and I just wanted to play this part. I thought it was the ultimate challenge, you know, for me playing a young Australian girl, someone who was younger than me, so brave and so bold, and so sort of honest in everything that she does in life, and quite rebellious, and often manipulative. And I just thought 'I want to get into all those complexities'. And I had a great time playing her.

Kristin: The year 2000 found Kate back in period dress as the Marquis de Sade’s chamber maid in Quills. Geoffrey Rush also starred in the film. During a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival, Rush revealed his true motivation in accepting the part.

Rush: When you’re given a script, and on about page 25 you discover that you get to tongue kiss Kate Winslet [laughter from press corps], and get paid for it, you say, you know, 'I’ll sign'. Um... [Kate gets up from her seat, creeps over to Geoffrey, then almost knocks him off his chair with a big kiss; press corps cheer] That was a festival freebie, um... [To Kate] Thank you! [Turning back to press] Did I blush?

(I did several screen caps last year of the kiss; go HERE to view.)

Kristin: Although Kate’s marriage to James Threapleton, an assistant director for the film Hideous Kinky, ended, the birth of their daughter Mia had a happier outcome.

Kate [from interview done with Steve Kmetko just two weeks after Mia’s birth]: A lot of people had said to me before she was born, 'how are you feeling? Aren’t you nervous or upset?' And I never really was nervous. And then when it did come round to it, I did have kind of butterflies in my tummy. But then, it just turned into this, you know, incredibly kind of powerful experience for me.

Kristin: Iris is Winslet’s latest project, the story of famed British novelist Iris Murdoch, who succumbed to Alzheimer’s Disease.

[Clip from Iris; young Iris and young are dancing] Iris: What are your rooms like?

John: They’re adequate, thank you.

Iris: I’d like to see them.

Kristin: The role earned Winslet a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role. And after her plain appearance in the film, chances are Kate is looking forward to her red carpet attire.

Kate [from recent interview]: We always used to joke about how we were going to be labeled the ugliest people on screen because it’s not a particularly pretty film for any of us, you know. It was slightly unnerving not even being able to have mascara at work, you know. Very little make-up, not the nicest clothes in the world, and a slightly hideous hairdo. But, you know, it’s part of the character, and when it’s part of the character you can do nothing but just love it.