Kate Winslet Wins Best Actress for `The Reader'
Kate Winslet pulled off the expected Sunday night, winning the Academy Award for best actress for her quietly powerful performance in “The Reader.”
Winslet was giddy and emotional as she accepted her trophy.
“I’d be lying if I haven’t made a version of this speech before,” she said. “I think I was probably 8 years old and staring into the bathroom mirror and this (Oscar) would be a shampoo bottle. But it’s not a shampoo bottle now.”
This is the first Oscar for Winslet, who’s been nominated five other times for her roles in “Titanic,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Iris,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Little Children.”
The best-actress category was loaded with strong contenders: Meryl Streep was another front-runner with her 15th acting nomination as a prickly nun in “Doubt.” Anne Hathaway played against her wholesome image as a toxic narcissist who leaves rehab to wreak havoc on her sister’s wedding in “Rachel Getting Married.” Angelina Jolie dug deep to portray a mother of a missing child in “Changeling.” And Melissa Leo was powerful as mom who forges an unlikely friendship in “Frozen River.”
