Oscar winner Kate Winslet says she chose to do smaller projects after the global success of Titanic as life became "quite unpleasant" with fame.

The 48-year-old star reflected on the media pressure and body image scrutiny she was subjected to after the release of James Cameron's 1997 romance tragedy epic.

"I felt like I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant.

“Journalists would always say, ‘After Titanic, you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’… and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible’,” Winslet told Porter magazine. Despite the unpleasant aspects, “It’s not a burden, any of it,” she said.

“(Titanic) continues to bring people huge amounts of joy. The only time I am like, ‘Oh God, hide,’ is if we are on a boat somewhere,” the actor quipped.

It's not the first time Winslet has talked about her fame following Titanic. During a 2021 episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, she recalled going "into self-protective mode right away" after her breakout co-lead role in the blockbuster, because she felt "bullied" by the UK media.

"I felt quite bullied if I'm honest," Winslet continued. "I remember just thinking, 'Okay, well, this is horrible and I hope it passes.' And it did definitely pass but it also made me realize that if that's what being famous was, I was not ready to be famous, thank you. No, definitely not."