See Kate Winslet's 20-Year-Old Daughter, Who's Taking Over Hollywood
Because she has a different last name, you may not have recognized her film debut.
Plenty of children of actors follow in their parent's footsteps. For instance, Dakota Johnson became a Hollywood star like her parents, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, and Pauletta and Denzel Washington's son, John David Washington, has recently made a name for himself, too. But sometimes, the connection isn't apparent when a celebrity's child has a different last name than them. So you might be shocked to know that Oscar winner Kate Winslet just revealed that her 20-year-old daughter has been acting and you probably didn't even realize it, because of their different surnames. Read on to find out what Winslet's daughter has been up to, and for more on another one of Griffith's kids, See Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith's Daughter Stella Now.
Kate Winslet's daughter made her film debut last year.
Mia Threapleton—whose father is Winslet's ex husband, film director Jim Threapleton—made her big screen debut in the 2020 movie Shadows, directed by Italian filmmaker Carlo Lavagna. But many didn't notice because of their different last names, including moviegoers and those in the industry.
"What's been really great for her is that she has a different surname so that initial job out of the gate, she slipped right under the radar and the people who cast her had absolutely no idea she was my daughter," Winslet said on the April 19 episode of the U.K. talk show Lorraine. "That was most important for her self-esteem, of course."
And for more on the families of other famous celebs, check out Mary-Kate, Ashley, and Elizabeth Olsen's Siblings You Didn't Know About.
She got the first role she auditioned for, without her mother's help.
Despite many people not realizing the connection, it's clear that talent runs in the family. Threapleton said that Shadows was the very first part she had ever auditioned for during a 2020 interview with Variety.
"I had just finished school, was free of exam h***, and felt excited, nervous and ready to start auditioning for things, and hoping that the opportunities to audition would come my way," she said. "I just hoped I would get the chance to do what I had wanted to do for so long. Shadows was the first film I'd received an audition for, and the first script I had ever been given to read." And for more up-to-date celebrity news, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Winslet said it wasn't until relatively recently that her daughter said she wanted to act.
Winslet revealed to host Lorraine Kelly that she thought her daughter might want to act, but she didn't share the news until relatively recently. "I think I knew [it] was coming, actually, I think I always suspected," Winslet said about Threapleton starting a career in acting. "And then, sure enough, a couple of years ago she turned around and she said, 'You know, I think I would like to give it a go.'"
Winslet added that currently, Threapleton is in the Czech Republic, about to start working on a TV show. But she didn't reveal further details. And for more children of celebrities, Julianne Moore's Daughter Is All Grown Up and Looks Just Like Her.
Threapleton said she didn't grow up spending much time with Winslet on set.
In her Variety interview, Threapleton admitted that she wasn't one of those celebrity children who was always on set with their parents. In fact, she called the times she was able to see her mom at work a "special treat."
"I never actually spent much time around sets that my mum was working on. It was always a special treat," Threapleton explained. "It's a very different experience when it is happening to you, and not just something I was getting to observe from time to time. I really understand why my mum has always impressed on us how hard the work is. She is right. And I loved every second of it." And for more celebrity children breaking out of their parents' shadows, see how Dennis Rodman's 18-Year-Old Daughter Just Made Sports History Twice.
