It was more than a little awkward for Kate Winslet to film sex scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio in front of husband Sam Mendes, who directed the stars in the upcoming drama “Revolutionary Road.”
“I just kept saying, `This is too … weird,”’ Winslet tells Entertainment Weekly magazine. “And Leo was like, `Oh, get over it.’ And I’m going, `Yeah, a little reminder: You’re my best friend. He’s my husband. This is a bit weird.”’
Mendes, who directed “American Beauty” and “Road to Perdition,” says, “I will admit it was quite bizarre to direct my wife in how to make love. But it’s difficult whether you’re married to a person or not.”
It’s been 11 years since Winslet and DiCaprio co-starred in the Oscar-winning blockbuster “Titanic,” and Winslet says a spark remains between them.
“I hadn’t realized how much my chemistry with him since `Titanic’ would still stick,” says the 32-year-old actress. “It’s great to discover we can just slip right into it, like muscle memory.”
They play suburban couple Frank and April Wheeler in “Revolutionary Road,” based on Richard Yates’ 1961 novel. It is slated for release in December, just in time for Oscar consideration.
“We knew that if we were going to do something again, it had to be something big and emotional,” Winslet says. “`Revolutionary Road’ is so painful and beautiful to read, simply because of the brutality of the honesty that Frank and April end up experiencing together.”
Winslet was eager to bring DiCaprio on board, and set up a sneaky way to do it: She arranged a meeting with the 33-year-old actor in March 2007, but sent Mendes in her place.
“Leo and I have such a history together and I couldn’t imagine not being able to apply that to this story and these characters,” she says. “So I played this very clever cat-and-mouse game to get my husband and then my best friend involved.”
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