NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) — Kate Winslet, who plays outcast Tilly in the upcoming film The Dressmaker, says she can relate to the plight of her character because she was “really teased” as a child.
“I had lots of girls who were jealous of me and lots of girls who were really trying to put me down,” Winslet told CBS News. “It’s very isolating when you’re bullied as a kid and, as a consequence, it’s something I feel pretty strongly about. But I live to tell the tale.”
In The Dressmaker, Winslet plays Tilly, a woman from the Australian Outback who was an outsider in her town. Tilly falls in love with Teddy, played by Liam Hemsworth, and has a successful career as a fashion designer, but its still treated like an outcast during a visit back home.
“Those moments don’t ever really go away,” Winslet said. “There was a vulnerability in Tilly as well, her toughness and strength and all of those things that I certainly… can identify with.”
Hemsworth said that he also “experienced a fair amount of bullying” as a child.
“I got bullied as a kid because I didn’t actually play football when I was in primary school or grade school,” he said. “I honestly watched a lot of movies when I was a kid. I watched The Neverending Story a lot.”
The Dressmaker opens in theaters on Friday.
Winslet is also slated to star alongside Justin Timberlake and James Belushi in Woody Allen’s next film, which begins shooting this fall in New York.
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