--- description: Find out why Kate Winslet is one of the 100 most influential people of 2021. title: Kate Winslet: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edde0837b1e79e/698a1caf656a3f15adbdb9af/kate-winslet-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 15, 2021 # Kate Winslet by Kenneth Branagh  Mark Peckmezian for TIME I first auditioned [Kate Winslet](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1880583%5F1848749,00.html "undefined") when she was 17\. I thought she was 25\. Such was her self-possession, presence and concentration in the room. When she walked out the door, I turned to the casting director and said with certainty, “We have just met a star.” Three years later, I cast her as Ophelia in a film of Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_. I did not ask her to audition. She brought a detective’s energy to rehearsals. She listened with superhuman acuity, and expressed character with effortless depth. She connected with Shakespeare entirely naturally. In HBO’s [_Mare of Easttown_](https://time.com/5953833/mare-of-easttown-review/ "undefined"), those same qualities are radiant, having now evolved into a truly awesome acting technique. Only now, hers is the art that entirely hides the artist. Kate Winslet disappears, and Mare emerges complete, without vanity or artifice. It’s magnificent to watch. I still see her as 25, but now as a master of her art. _Branagh is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and an Emmy-winning actor_  Mark Peckmezian for TIME [**_Get a print of the 2021 TIME100 cover featuring Kate Winslet_**](https://timecoverstore.com/featured/2021-time-100-kate-winslet-photograph-by-nhu-xuan-hua.html "undefined") _Styled by Cheryl Konteh; Hair by Nicola Clarke_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095927/kate-winslet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095927/kate-winslet/"},"headline":"Kate Winslet","datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:15:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:57.534Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095927/kate-winslet/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","T100 2021","T100 2021 Artists"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edde0837b1e79e/698a1caf656a3f15adbdb9af/kate-winslet-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta3edde0837b1e79e/698a1caf656a3f15adbdb9af/kate-winslet-time-100-2021.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095927/kate-winslet/","name":"Kate Winslet"}}]}] ```