Kate Winslet has opened up on the 'difficulties' of working alongside her 22-year-old daughter, Mia Threapleton, after the pair starred together in a new Channel 4 drama.
Winslet, 47, and Threapleton appear together in I Am Ruth, a fictional story created by award winning filmmaker Dominic Savage as the latest instalment from the BAFTA-nominated all-female-led anthology series I Am.
The drama aims to offer an honest portrayal of a mother and daughter navigating their relationship in the midst of the mental health crisis affecting young people, with Winslet playing Ruth; a mother concerned as her teenage daughter Freya (Threapleton) becomes consumed by the pressures of social media.
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Winslet, who co-authored the story alongside Savage, told OK! the topic is one close to her heart, saying: "Everyone knows that while it can be a positive thing for some, for the vast majority of teenagers social media can completely consume their worlds – and not necessarily in positive ways.
“We just wanted to tell a story that was honest and highlighted those issues that are so extraordinarily prevalent at the moment, and alarmingly so.”
Winslet didn't initially have her daughter in mind for the role of Freya, but when the opportunity arose she encouraged Savage to meet with Threapleton and see if he felt she could take on the role.
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“We went through those steps and he felt very confident that she did have the maturity to be able to handle some of the really difficult themes," Winslet explained.
Though she was happy that her daughter landed the role, Winslet admitted she struggled at points to see Threapleton in character.
“We are playing characters – these people aren’t us and this isn’t our story. But, for sure, one can’t help but draw on personal experience here and there, whether that’s your own stuff or something you’ve gone through with a friend or a family member," she explained.
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“It was really staggering how alarmingly free Mia and I were able to be, which I hadn’t imagined. My instinct to take care of her had to go away because I knew I had to let her be exposed and hurting, and struggling, and that was quite difficult.”
The family members discovered throughout filming that they had different ways of approaching their performances, so they decided to 'not talk to each other too much about it'.
However, Threapleton has said it was 'really fun' to perform alongside her mum, saying: “The fact that she is actually my mother, I feel that really helped in a way because the chemistry, the connection, the emotional bond between us as a mother and daughter who are very close, was already there."
I Am Ruth airs tomorrow, 8 December on Channel 4 at 9pm.
Topics: Celebrity, TV And Film, Health
Emily Brown