From The Regime to Titanic: The 25 Best Kate Winslet Performances Ranked and Where to Watch Them

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Jess Bacon

Jess Bacon

JustWatch Editor

Kate Winslet is one of Britain’s finest actors. For over thirty years, the actress has been at the forefront of cultural classics such as James Cameron’s The Holiday. Read on to discover the 25 best Kate Winslet performances and where to stream them.

After her eye-catching debut in Sense and Sensibility. Alongside fellow British acting royalty, Thompson, Winslet portrayed Marianne Dashwood and won a BAFTA Award for Best ing Actress as the less-sensible sister. It exceeded expectations to become one of the best Jane Austen adaptations of all time and grossed a sizable $135 million on a minuscule $16 million budget.

The actress went from strength to strength, swapping a period drama for the romantic disaster film, Titanic, which became the highest grossing film of all time after its release in 1997. Undeniably, Rose is one of Winslet’s best-known roles, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the 1998 Academy Awards. It remains one of her greatest performances all time with a legacy rare for any film.

In the years that followed, Winslet proved the breadth of her talents in an array of different genre films, such as the science fiction drama Little Children.

Every year, Winslet graces our TV screens as the somewhat weepy Iris in the festive romantic comedy, The Holiday, which remains a firm holiday Christmas favourite film since its release in 2006. It eclipsed its $85 budget easily and went onto worldwide success at the box office grossing over $205 million.

Over on the small-screen, the actress has been at the forefront of acclaimed limited series such as HBO’s crime drama, The Regime. Winslet’s filmography moves from comedy to drama with effortless ease, mirrored in her outstanding acting ability, which has led her to receive a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, 5 BAFTAs and five Golden Globes along with her Oscar for The Reader.

The critically acclaimed German-American romantic drama secured a nomination for Best Picture, alongside Winslet’s win, and boasted another steady income at the box office ($108 million) on a medium budget of $32 million.

In short, it’s difficult to distinguish the best performances within Winslet’s eclectic and outstanding filmography, as each title could be called her standout performance. Inevitably, for the timeless nature of the film, Titanic is at the forefront, followed by her critically acclaimed roles in the films above.

Even in a more recent role, such as Cameron’s Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way of the Water, Winslet delivers an exceptional performance. Alongside the impressive motion capture, Winslet also broke regular action man Tom Cruise’s record, as she held her breath underwater for 7 minutes and 47 seconds, during production of this film.

With an excellent showcase of films to discover, here’s the best 25 Kate Winslet movies and TV series ranked and where to watch them.

  1. Titanic

    Titanic

    1997

    # 1

    101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

  2. The Reader

    The Reader

    2008

    # 2

    The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

  3. Sense and Sensibility

    Sense and Sensibility

    1995

    # 3

    The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and ionate Marianne, whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. When Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his estate must on by law to his son from his first marriage, John and wife Fanny. But these circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's current wife, and daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, without a home and with barely enough money to live on. As Elinor and Marianne struggle to find romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status, they must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.

  4. Mare of Easttown

    Mare of Easttown

    2021

    # 4

    A small-town police detective tries to keep her professional and personal lives separate while investigating the death of a teenage mother.

  5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    # 5

    Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

  6. Revolutionary Road

    Revolutionary Road

    2008

    # 6

    A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.

  7. The Regime

    The Regime

    2024

    # 7

    An authoritarian regime is about to unravel. Follows a story of one year within the walls of its palace.

  8. Little Children

    Little Children

    2006

    # 8

    The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a ed sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.

  9. Heavenly Creatures

    Heavenly Creatures

    1994

    # 9

    Precocious teenager Juliet moves to New Zealand with her family and soon befriends the quiet, brooding Pauline through their shared love of fantasy and literature. This friendship gradually develops into an intense and obsessive bond.

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  10. Lee

    Lee

    2024

    # 10

    The true story of photographer Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

  11. Avatar: The Way of Water

    # 11

    Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

  12. Finding Neverland

    Finding Neverland

    2004

    # 12

    During a writing slump, playwright J.M. Barrie meets a widow and her four children, all young boys—who soon become an important part of Barrie’s life and the inspiration that lead him to create his masterpiece. Peter Pan.

  13. Labor Day

    Labor Day

    2013

    # 13

    Two strangers are drawn together under incredible circumstances. What starts as an unforeseen encounter over a long holiday weekend soon becomes a second chance love story.

  14. The Dressmaker

    The Dressmaker

    2015

    # 14

    In 1950s Australia, beautiful, talented dressmaker Tilly returns to her tiny hometown to right wrongs from her past. As she tries to reconcile with her mother, she starts to fall in love while transforming the fashion of the town.

  15. The Holiday

    The Holiday

    2006

    # 15

    Two women, one American and one British, swap homes at Christmastime following bad breakups. Each woman finds romance with a local man but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship.

  16. Iris

    Iris

    2001

    # 16

    True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.

  17. Blackbird

    Blackbird

    2019

    # 17

    A terminally ill mother invites her family to their country house for one final gathering, but tensions quickly boil over between her two daughters.

  18. Mildred Pierce

    Mildred Pierce

    2011

    # 18

    Mildred Pierce depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic daughter's love and respect.

  19. Black Beauty

    Black Beauty

    2020

    # 19

    Born free in the American West, Black Beauty is a horse rounded up and brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets spirited teenager Jo Green. The two forge a bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges and adventures.

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  20. Contagion

    Contagion

    2011

    # 20

    As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.