Kate Winslet Fought to Keep Her ‘Belly’ in ‘Mare of Easttown’ Sex Scene, Wanted to Show ‘Real’ Body

Kate Winslet has filmed a number of sex scenes in her long career, but she wanted her latest one to accurately portray how her body really looks. In her hit HBO Max crime drama Mare of Easttown, her “bulgy belly” was on full display, and the actress wouldn’t have it any other way.

The 45-year-old explained in a May 31 New York Times profile that director Craig Zobel promised Kate that he would cut a “bulgy bit of belly” from her sex scene with Guy Pearce. She urged him “Don’t you dare!” Kate went on to explain that viewers are “starved” for what a real woman’s body looks like at her age.

“Listen, I hope that in playing Mare as a middle-aged woman — I will be 46 in October — I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done because there are clearly no filters,” the Oscar winner told the publication.

“She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life and where she comes from. I think we’re starved of that a bit,” Kate continued.

The actress even sent the promo poster for the limited series back two times because she felt that it had been overly retouched. “They were like ‘Kate, really, you can’t,’ and I’m like, ‘Guys, I know how many lines I have by the side of my eye, please put them all back.’”

The British beauty wanted to make sure any imperfections on her stunning face remained visible for the series. Kate revealed, “We tried to light it to make it look not nice” of her porcelain skin. Her eyebrows were filled in to make her face look more “heavy,” as the actress explained, “We’re so used to seeing this stuff airbrushed away.”

When it comes to getting naked onscreen in the future, “I think my days are getting a little bit numbered of doing nudity,” she said. “I’m just not that comfortable doing it anymore. It’s not even really an age thing, actually. There comes a point where people are going to go, ‘Oh, here she goes again.’” Kate also laughed that it was “unfair” to her camera crews to find her best angles as her body changes.