LOS ANGELES 鈥� Kate Winslet is playing a police detective on TV, and that鈥檚 where her crime-busting ambition ends.
鈥淚鈥檇 be a (expletive) lousy detective. I鈥檇 be very good at the coffee and the beers, definitely,鈥� Winslet said Wednesday of her role on HBO鈥檚 鈥淢are of Easttown,鈥� debuting in April. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I have the mental stamina that is required. I have stamina, but in a different way.鈥�
Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, who is investigating a murder in her small, close-knit Pennsylvania town while struggling to keep her family life intact. The limited series鈥� cast includes Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Evan Peters and Guy Pearce.
Winslet said her character felt in many ways 鈥渁 million miles away from me鈥� in the nature of her work and its demands.
But she found an important connection with Mare in her 鈥渞eal sense of family and how much it means to her to hold that together at all costs, and also to be able to admit to herself from time to time that she has failed in a lot of areas and try desperately to correct those errors.鈥�
The British actor has used an impressive variety of accents in her career, including a German one for her Oscar-winning role in 2008鈥檚 鈥淭he Reader.鈥� But she found it a real challenge to match the regional Pennsylvania sound needed in 鈥淢are of Easttown,鈥�
鈥淚t was up there among the hardest accents I鈥檝e ever done,鈥� she told TV critics during a Q&A. 鈥淚鈥檇 say it鈥檚 up there in the top three for sure. But it adds so much so much to Mare鈥檚 character. I didn鈥檛 want to come up with something that was sort of generalized and make a few kind of token sounds that were a nod in the direction鈥� of the dialect.
The seven-episode 鈥淢are of Easttown鈥� debuts April 18 on HBO and will be on streaming service HBO Max.
Lynn Elber, The Associated Press
