Kate Winslet Describes Robert Downey Jr.’s ‘The Holiday’ Audition
Kate Winslet, Robert Downey Jr.
Marion Curtis/StarPix for HBO Max/INSTARimages; MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty ImagesIt seems Robert Downey Jr.‘s English accent improved between his audition for The holiday and his starring role in 2009 Sherlock Holmes.
Kate Winslet joked that Downey, 58, had auditioned for the 2006 cult classic with a “bad” English accent. (Earlier, Jimmy Fallon had revealed that he and Downey auditioned for the roles that were going to Jacket black And Judas Lawrespectively.)
“This is a real true story that I remember very well,” Winslet, 48, said during an appearance on Wednesday, February 28 at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “We were told you were coming to…well, I thought it was a lecture. We were going to read the script in a fun way. I didn’t know you auditioned for the role. I’m so sorry you didn’t understand.
Winslet also apologized if she was “mean” or “rude,” which Fallon, 49, said she wasn’t.
“It was a hotel room somewhere on the Upper East Side, and Robert Downey had an English accent, but I thought he was speaking Australian,” she added. “I thought, ‘That’s bad. That’s not going to work and who’s going to tell him that sounds terrible.’ … It actually wasn’t that great.”
They discussed the trajectory of Downey’s career, with Winslet praising him for “winning it all” after the success of Oppenheimer. (Downey has won several awards for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss in the film, which will be released in July 2023. He is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, which take place next month.)
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Winslet and Fallon continued to argue The holidaywith the actress revealing that she is receiving more recognition for the Christmas film than for her star turn in 1997 Titanic.
“People come up to me on the street about The Holiday and the episode of Extras that I did that then Titanic, I promise,” she said. “Especially at Christmas.”
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Winslet appeared as Iris Simpkins in the Nancy Meijers–directed film, which also stars Cameron DiazStraight and Black.
“What’s so beautiful is that mothers and daughters come up to me in the supermarket and say, ‘Okay, we just love The holiday. It’s our little ritual at Christmas.’ And they have things that they eat every year,” Winslet added. “They sit down, it’s a tradition and I love that. That’s something I never expected, this kind of mother-daughter relationship around a movie like this. It is so nice. It’s beautiful.”