Way back at the beginning of her career, Winslet starred as Juliet Hulme in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, which tells the true story of the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder case in Christchurch, New Zealand.

While the film is known for its impressive use of visual effects to create the imagined world Juliet and her friend Pauline (played by Melanie Lynskey) make up together, Winslet’s performance (in her first full-length feature film, no less) is a standout.

Heavenly Creatures is available to rent or buy on Google Play

Whether or not you’re a fan of Jane Austen, it’s hard not to fall in love with Winslet’s performance as Marianne alongside Emma Thompson as her older sister Elinor.

The film also stars Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant as Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrars respectively, and saw Winslet win her first Bafta for best film actress in a supporting role. She was nominated for her first Academy Award for the performance too.

Sense And Sensibility is available to watch on Netflix

Sense And Sensibility wasn’t the only literary adaptation Winslet took on in her early career; in 1996, she appeared in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as Ophelia alongside Kenneth Branagh, who also adapted and directed the film.

It may not be her most notable performance, but it’s still a good’un. However, if you want to see Winslet in action, be prepared for a big commitment – the film constitutes the first unabridged theatrical film version of the play, and as such runs for an impressive four hours.  

Hamlet is available to rent or buy on Amazon

Undeniably the most defining role of Winslet’s career saw her star as 17-year-old socialite Rose DeWitt Bukater opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson in James Cameron’s Titanic.

The debate about whether or not Jack could have squeezed onto that door aside (he totally could have made it though), Titanic is a simultaneously beautiful and haunting film made all the better thanks to Winslet’s Oscar-nominated performance.

Titanic is available to watch on Netflix

Winslet received yet another Oscar nomination for her performance as the famous British writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch in a film based on her life.

She shared the role with Dame Judi Dench, with Winslet playing Murdoch during her younger years when she was an academic at Oxford and fell in love with fellow professor John Bayley (Hugh Bonneville), who later became her husband.

Iris is available to rent on Apple TV+

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind has attracted a cult following since it was first released in 2004, and it’s not hard to see why.

In the film, which brings together aspects of sci-fi, drama and, of course, romance, Winslet plays Clementine Kruczynski, a young woman who opts to have her memories of her boyfriend Joel Barish (played by Jim Carrey) erased after they have a big fight.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is available to watch on NOW

It may not be her most award-worthy role, but it’s hard not to fall in love with Winslet (and the rest of the cast, for that matter) in this festive romantic comedy. It follows the story of Iris and Amanda (Cameron Diaz), two women who swap lives for the holidays and end up falling in love.

Heartwarming, easy-to-watch and filled with character, in this writer’s humble opinion, it’s the perfect Christmas film. 

The Holiday is available to watch on Netflix

Winslet won her first and (for the time being) only Oscar for this film, in which she plays Hanna Schmitz, the defendant in a Nazi war crime trial whose secret past could hold the key to her defence. She stars alongside Ralph Fiennes, who plays Michael Berg, a German lawyer whose past relationship with Hanna draws him to the case.

The film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards alongside Winslet’s, including best director and best picture.

The Reader is available to rent or buy on Amazon

Not long after Winslet’s performance in The Reader came Revolutionary Road, which saw the actor join forces with her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio once again.

The adaptation of Richard Yates’ debut novel of the same name sees Winslet star as April Wheeler, a frustrated housewife and mother of two who attempts to save her marriage with DiCaprio’s Frank by suggesting the couple move to Paris. However, the couple are forced to reconsider when things begin to fall apart.

Revolutionary Road is available to rent or buy on Amazon

Following renewed interest in the film during the coronavirus pandemic, we couldn’t leave this one off the list.

Alongside an all-star cast including Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon, Winslet plays Dr Erin Mears, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer who works to encourage local government leaders to provide resources for a public health response after the outbreak of a mysterious new virus.

Contagion is available to rent or buy on Amazon

In yet another Oscar-nominated performance for Winslet the actor plays Joanna Hoffman, a marketing executive who was one of the original members of the Apple Computer Macintosh and NeXT team.

Her authentic and powerful performance as Hoffman is no surprise – to prepare for the role, Winslet spent a considerable amount of time with the woman herself.

Steve Jobs is available to watch on NOW

Set in 1840s Lyme Regis, Ammonite reimagines the relationship between Winslet’s character, the pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning, and geologist Charlotte Murchison, played by Saoirse Ronan.

While the film was (rightly) criticised for casting two heterosexual actors in a queer love story, Winslet and Ronan’s performances remain distinctly powerful.

As Stylist contributor Emily Gargan put it: “[If] you want to watch amazing actors set the screen on fire with just a few meaningful glances, then Ammonite is well worth your consideration.”

Ammonite is available to rent or buy on Amazon

One of Winslet’s most recent roles as a no-nonsense, small-town detective in Sky’s Mare Of Easttown is definitely worth a watch.

The mystery at the heart of the plot may make for an intriguing watch, but Winslet’s authentic and raw performance takes this series to a whole other level.  

Mare Of Easttown is available to watch on NOW

The six-episode series tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. And who’s heading that regime? Well, none other than Winslet’s chancellor. This is a gritty political drama worth getting stuck into one weekend.

The Regime is available to watch on NOW

Lee sees Winslet star as Lee Miller, the pioneering war photographer and correspondent whose photos of the Second World War remain some of the most historically significant records of the time. The film will be released in cinemas in September and, from the trailer alone, it looks like it’s going to be an emotional watch.

Lee will land in UK cinemas on 13 September