Kate Winslet won the Leading Actress award at the 2023 British Academy Television Awards, or BAFTA TV Awards, on 14 May for her performance in the Channel 4 show, I am Ruth. The show itself won the award for Single Drama.

The awards ceremony took place at the Royal Festival Hall in London and was hosted by comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.

This is the first time that Winslet, who played water matriarch Ronal in Avatar: The Way of Water, won BAFTA TV awards. However, she already has three BAFTA film awards to her credit.

Everything about Kate Winslet’s I am Ruth and her other wins

What is I am Ruth about?

I am Ruth is an emotional feature-length British drama about a mother and her daughter. It is part of the I Am…(2019–) anthology series created by filmmaker Dominic Savage.

The story of I am Ruth is co-written by Winslet with Savage.

She stars as the titular character and the role of her daughter, Freya, is played by her real-life daughter, Mia Honey Threapleton. Winslet’s real-life son, Joe Anders, also features in the show. The story follows Ruth’s struggles with Freya’s mental health issues.

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Kate Winslet’s BAFTA TV award acceptance speech

The talk of the ceremony was, however, Winslet’s win in the Leading Actress category, where she was nominated alongside Billie Piper for I Hate Suzie Too, Imelda Staunton for The Crown, Maxine Peake for Anne, Sarah Lancashire for Julia and Vicky McClure for Without Sin.

Winslet became emotional upon receiving the Leading Actress award.

“We did this together, kiddo,” Winslet said as she accepted the award on the stage, with Threapleton seated among the audience visibly emotional.

“There were days when it was agony for [Threapleton] to dig as deeply as she did and it took my breath away,” Winslet said.

She underlined the harms of social media and the need to focus on mental health issues of children.

“I Am Ruth was made for parents and their children…for parents who wish they could still communicate with their teenagers, but who no longer can,” Winslet said, urging teenagers not to become addicted to social media.

She also said, “To people in power, please criminalise harmful content. Please eradicate harmful content. We don’t want it, and we want our children back,”  She added, “We don’t want to lie awake terrified for our children’s mental health. To any young people who are listening, please ask for help, there is no shame in admitting you need support, just ask for it.”

Where to watch I am Ruth

I am Ruth is available on Channel 4 along with others in the I Am… series.

Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel. It is, however, not available outside the UK, meaning that people outside the region can’t see it.

Here are some other performances for which Kate Winslet has won top awards

Apart from other accolades, Winslet has won 17 awards across Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG).

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Winslet played Marianne Dashwood, the younger sister of Emma Thompson’s Elinor Dashwood, in this film directed by Ang Lee. Sense and Sensibility is based on the 1811 novel of the same name by Jane Austen. Her role earned Winslet a BAFTA and a SAG award for supporting performance.

The Reader (2008)

Winslet won an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for best actress, and a Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in this film set in Germany in the early years after World War II. Winslet plays the role of an illiterate woman whose past as a Nazi war criminal comes to haunt both her and a young man in love with her.

Revolutionary Road (2008)

The film pairs Winslet with her Titanic (1997) co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. They play April and Frank, a perfect couple whose relationship hits a rough patch when April’s pregnancy complicates their planned move to Paris. Winslet won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Mildred Pierce (2011)

Winslet took home the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture – Television, an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, and a SAG for Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for Mildred Pierce. The story is about a single mother whose relationship with her two daughters becomes tenuous as she plans to open a restaurant business.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Winslet plays Joanna Hoffman, the marketing guru who was a key member of the original Macintosh team, in this biopic on the Apple co-founder. For her performance, Winslet won the BAFTA and Golden Globe for best supporting actress.

Mare of Easttown (2021)

Winslet won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture – Television, an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, and a SAG for Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie for Mare of Easttown. In the crime drama, Winslet plays a detective in a small town near Philadelphia, who is busy investigating the murder of a teenage mother while her personal life is in shambles.

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(Hero and Featured image credit: Channel 4/@C4Press/Twitter)

This story first appeared on Prestige Online Malaysia