Kate Winslet interview: On raising hell with ‘The Regime’ and more

Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet talks to us about her upcoming mini-series ‘The Regime’ in which she plays a paranoid populist leader and on comparisons with real-life politicians

Kate Winslet is noticeably concerned (even more than I am) that my Internet connection during our Zoom call is all over the place. I succeed finally at keeping it stable, all the while apologising profusely. I need not have fretted; Kate — looking incredibly regal — is quick to assures us that she is not inconvenienced at all. 

The Oscar-winning English actor is talking to us from London, where she’s doing press for her latest project, HBO’s six-part limited series The Regime.

In a riveting career that has spanned 30 years (her feature debut was with Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures in 1994), the British actor has sunk her teeth into several flawed female characters who have disturbed and enthralled in equal measure; from a Nazi concentration camp guard in The Reader to a troubled housewife in Revolutionary Road. There, of course, have been other acclaimed performances in blockbuster titles such as Titanic,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Holiday.

But could her latest role be the most fascinating one of them all? The upcoming dark satire stars Kate as Chancellor Elena Vernham, an authoritarian leader of a fictional country, whose grip on the regime (and her mind) turns unstable after she falls for a volatile soldier, Herbert Zubak. Increasingly paranoid by the minute as Zubak’s influence over her continues to grow, Elena’s desperate and eccentric attempts to retain her power result in complete chaos all around her... and her people.

After having won Emmys for the period drama Mildred Pierce and detective thriller Mare of Easttown, much is expected from the 48-year-old’s most recent television turn. “It’s a twisted love story about two people who should never have fallen in love,” laughs the actor.

Created and co-written by showrunner Will Tracy, The Regime is directed by double Oscar nominee Stephen Frears (The Queen) and Emmy-winning director Jessica Hobbs (The Crown). The international ensemble cast also includes Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone) as the troubled Herbert Zubak, Guillaume Gallienne (Me, Myself and Mum) as Elena’s husband, Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) as Agnes who runs the household staff, as well as Hugh Grant as Elena’s defeated political rival Edward Keplinger in a delightfully-wicked cameo.

Excerpts from a conversation: