Holy Smoke - it's Kate Winslet!

Not long ago she was smooching a freeze- dried Leonardo DiCaprio on a wooden plank in the middle of the ocean. Now she's wearing a Sari and shagging Harvey Keitel. What's up with that?  In the uber dark romantic comedy Holy Smoke, Kate plays Ruth - an impressionable young woman who leaves her family in Sydney, Australia for the dense squalor of Dehli, India, where she's touched (literally and figuratively) by a local Guru.

Ruth's blissed-out devotion horrifies her family, and faster than you can say "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" her mother plucks her from India and the two return home, where America's most successful cult deprogrammer, PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel) awaits.  Of course, this boot-wearin', cocky bundle of testosterone thinks he'll easily win her respect then break her down - but you know from the get-go that Ruth's deprogramming is not going to be a walk in the park. Instead, the two battle wits to see who's soul will crumble first. Deep, huh?  Recently, I caught up with lovely Kate. Here, be a fly on the wall...

BBB: Looking at yourself naked in the mirror is hard enough at home. What was it like seeing yourself totally nude on a giant screen?
Kate: I have days when I look in the mirror and worry, and I also have days when I go, "Hey, you look great!" I think all women do. I'm not a believer - as you all know - in diets and all this shit. It's a load of rubbish and they don't work anyway. When you see yourself completely naked on-screen, it's like watching a horror film because you know that everyone's watching it too! It's like me saying to you, "Right. Get naked and stand on the table in front of all of these people." Oh - it's absolutely horrible! But those scenes are there for a reason and I really felt it was moving...I really felt for her when I read that scene.

BBB: Did you and Harvey get much time to rehearse before shooting?
Kate: Oh, here we go...the rehearsal period. Fuck me. We had two weeks of rehearsal that were [PAUSE] extraordinary. I remember going home thinking, "Please God. Don't let the shoot be as hard as the rehearsals, because I just won't survive." We started at 8AM every morning...then we rehearsed flat-out all day long until 8PM. Sometimes we wouldn't even leave the room. It was just me, Jane and Harvey. It was difficult, but brilliant.

BBB: Hate to sound like such a girly-girl, but you really look amazing. But do you have any beauty secrets?
Kate: Why, thank you dahling! You know what? I don't have any. [LIGHTING UP A CIGARETTE] I really don't. I'm afraid I'm not a very good example because I smoke. I do drink a lot of water though, but half the time I fall asleep with my makeup on because I can't remember to take it off. One thing I don't believe in are all these bloody products that are so expensive. What if you don't have much money and you really want to take care of your skin? You can't afford to these days - so I am a real believer in being simple.

BBB: Damn you. Do you do anything?
Kate: I take some herbal stuff which is actually a hormone balancer. It's called Mexican Wild Yam. I was feeling a bit like a 'nutter and a friend told me about it. I used to break out on my chin - which is the hormonal area by the way - and I haven't had any breakouts since I've started using it.

BBB: Do you have an entourage?
Kate: Absolutely not. I can't stand it if there's a whole gang of people. I'm not into the whole entourage thing at all.

BBB: When you and Jim Threapleton got married, the press went nuts. Are you still getting hounded?
Kate: No. It comes and goes. About every two months they decide that I'm pregnant, but that's nothing new. Other than that, it's okay. We keep a really low profile and don't go to celebrity parties much. As far as our wedding - because we didn't try to run away or hide or surround ourselves with entouragy-bodyguardy people, they respected us. Knock on wood. [SHE KNOCKS ON THE TABLE]

BBB: If only the press could leave Leo alone.
Kate: I do think about poor old Leo and I think bloody hell, how does he survive? I don't think that guy can do anything without someone writing about it or criticizing it. And he's a really great guy. I mean, he's fine and he's having a blast.

BBB: But he can handle it?
Kate: Yeah, he can handle it. He surrounds himself with a lot of really good friends and I think that helps him. A lot of his mates go everywhere he goes and I think that's a good thing because it keeps him grounded. I have Jim to keep me grounded and he has his mates.

BBB: I've enjoyed you in so many movies, but my favorite has to be Heavenly Creatures. Do you have a favorite?

Kate: Heavenly Creatures will always have a really, really special place in my heart because it was the first thing I'd ever done, and because Peter Jackson...I would work with that man again at the drop of a hat. He's just the most darling human being and a brilliant director. I went to make that film as a girl and I absolutely came back a woman. I learned so much. What am I the proudest of? Holy Smoke. Because she [Ruth] is just so different. To sit there and go, "That's not even me!" That's the feeling that I've been looking for all my life.