In the grand entertainment industry tradition that is nearly as old as the invention of celluloid itself, a famous person spawned a famous person. And one day, that famous person might go on to win an award, thank their famous parent sitting in the audience, and have everyone at home thinking, “Oh yeah, that’s how they got so famous! Famous last name. Gotcha.” But not in the case of the daughter of Kate Winslet. Kate’s 20-year-old daughter Mia Threapleton started acting a few years ago, and she’s landed a few gigs. According to Kate, the reason why Mia has been successful so far is because her last name isn’t Winslet.
Kate shares Mia with her first ex-husband, Jim Threapleton, who she married in 1998 and divorced in 2001. Mia’s IMDb page only has two credits so far, the most recent of which was the 2020 Italian thriller Shadows. So to be fair, it’s not like her career is suspiciously hot hot hot all of a sudden. She’s clearly just starting out. But one thing we can be guaranteed of is that she didn’t land that lead role in Shadows, based off an audition that began and ended with: “So, my mom is the Titanic lady…”. Kate recently appeared on the British chat show Lorraine, where she revealed that her little girl is now a 20-year-old actress, which came as a shock to a lot of people because no one really knew Mia was into that sort of thing. via People magazine:
“[She’s] 20 and acting,” Winslet told Lorraine Kelly on her show recently. “She’s away now in the Czech Republic about to start on a TV series over there.”
“I think I knew [it] was coming, I always suspected. And then a few years ago she turned around and said, ‘I’d like to give it a go.’ What’s great for her is she has a different surname so she slipped under the radar and the people who cast her didn’t know she was my daughter and that was important for her self-esteem, of course.”
Yes, as fate would have it, the people who cast her in that movie had no idea who her mom was because apparently none of them read Variety. If they did read variety, then they might have read the exclusive interview with Mia published last year, which literally opened with: “Mia Threapleton, who is the daughter Kate Winslet and British film director Jim Threapleton.” So, it’s not exactly a secret. Also, Mia kind of looks like her mom. Genetics, they’ll always give you away!
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But even without her mom’s last name, Mia’s dad Jim Threapleton also was an entertainment industry type (he has a few directing and assistant directing credits to his name). And she’s got access to contacts. From the years of 2003 to 2011, her stepfather was the Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes. Her current stepdad is the nephew of extremely famous billionaire Richard Branson. So it’s not like Mia had much trouble finding an open door at an agent’s office. Plus, remember when I said her IMDb page has two credits? The first one is for a 2014 film called A Little Chaos, starring…oh look at that, Kate Winslet! Well, who wants their acting debut to be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance in a local Burger King commercial anyway? And yes, nepotism is a suspect way to start a career, but it could be worse. At least she’s using her connection to a famous parent in a productive way.
Pic: Wenn.com
