‘Mare of Easttown’: Kate Winslet Hid in a Car Trunk to Make Her On-Screen Daughter’s Kissing Scene Less Awkward

Kate Winslet is making waves for her work in the critically-acclaimed TV series Mare of Easttown. As a hardened detective with personal problems, Winslet portrays the character of Mare Sheehan with wit, dedication, and grit — and many of Winslet’s fans have called out her performance as one of the best that she has ever turned in. However, Winslet did much more than act in Mare of Easttown. The longtime Hollywood icon actually served as an executive producer on the limited series, and as the crew found out, she dived into the role without any trace of a diva attitude. 

Kate Winslet had multiple roles on ‘Mare of Easttown’

Winslet is unmistakable in the role of Mare Sheehan. However, many viewers might be surprised to learn that Winslet felt compelled to take on the challenge of executive producing Mare of Easttown.

As Winslet revealed in a May 2021 interview, she felt that there was no better time, after so many years in the film business. “I just like to do my own thing. So there’s a reason that I didn’t get into producing earlier in my career. I’m an actor, and I love my job. I was always fine doing exactly that. It’s enough for me, anyway, to just be doing that,” Winslet admitted. “With Mare, it just felt like the right time.”

In addition to her insistence that she works as hard as everyone else, Winslet fit right in as a regular cast and crew member. As she detailed in her interview, she made it clear to showrunners upfront that her trailer be the same size as everyone else’s. “If I arrive on day one and I have a trailer that’s bigger than everyone else’s, no matter what it says on my contract, I will actually cry,” the actor recalled telling producer Mark Roybal.

Why did Kate Winslet hide in a car trunk during a pivotal scene?

Winslet wasted no time diving into work on Mare of Easttown. She bonded quickly with the cast and crew, particularly the young actor Angourie Rice, who plays Winslet’s daughter in the series.

Winslet went out of her way to support Rice. During one intense scene where Rice had to get romantic in a car, Winslet admitted that she stuck around on set to make sure that the young actor felt comfortable — even going so far as to hide in the trunk of the car just so that Rice wouldn’t be the only woman on the set. 

What did Evan Peters say about working with Kate Winslet?

Angourie Rice wasn’t the only young actor on Mare of Easttown who enjoyed working with Winslet. Evan Peters, who has a prime role in the HBO series, recently opened up to Variety about his experience working with the actor, admitting: “I was so excited to meet and work with Kate Winslet. She’s one of my favorite actresses and I’ve looked up to her for so long…My whole goal for coming into of this thing was just to show up on set and watch Kate to see what she did and follow her lead and just learn from her. And I learned so much. She’s such an amazing person; she’s super nice.”

Clearly, Winslet did much more than just put in a terrific performance in Mare of Easttown — she also made a huge impression on her fellow cast members as well.