OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS Kate Winslet has revealed that she was regularly passed over for major movie roles as a teenager because she was considered “too fat” to cast.

Speaking during a surprise visit to the Starmaker’s Acting School in Reading – where she herself had trained during her formative years – Winslet admitted she had had to overcome major body confidence issues in order to succeed in her profession.

While she was on the books at Starmaker from the ages of 10 to 15, she took leads in three school productions – but having graduated to the professional scene, struggled to win roles because of complains about her size.

Winslet’s visit was made shortly after the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony, when perennial nominee Winslet had finally won an award for her role in The Reader, but has only now been uploaded to YouTube for public consumption.

Describing herself as “the fat kid who was pushed to the back and never got the leading parts,” Winslet added: “I was always a bit overweight and always looked a bit wrong and had big feet.”

The Daily Telegraph reported that Winslet also joined 15-year-old auditionee Jack Kowalik during her visit, after volunteering – from the audience – to read lines opposite him during a rehearsal workshop.

Kowalik, who has since become a trainee accountant, was so stunned by his opportunity to perform opposite Winslet that he later had to wake his sleeping mother asking her to pinch him, such was his incredulity about his experience.