How Kate Winslet's daughter got her big break: Mia Threapleton, 24, insists she's no nepo baby, but what about those film roles with her mother...and the A-lister she calls 'Uncle Leo'?
Ahead of her biggest role yet in Wes Anderson's latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, Mia Threapleton has shown a fresh determination to shed the label of 'nepo baby'.
The actress, 24, is the daughter of acting legend Kate Winslet, and has shown the apple does not fall far from the tree after starring in shows like The Buccaneers and Dangerous Liaisons.
But scrutiny of the children of celebrities following in their parents' footsteps has increased in recent years, with criticism directed at so-called nepo babies having an easier road to success based on their parentage rather than purely talent.
Now Mia is the latest actress with star-studded heritage to push back against the narrative that she received a helping hand in the industry due to her actress mother and director father, insisting that she rarely visited film sets growing up or saw scripts around the house.
However, an examination of Mia's rise to fame paints something of a different picture given that she made her screen debut at the age of 14 in period drama, A Little Chaos, in which Kate played the lead role.
While her breakout role in 2022's hard-hitting drama I Am Ruth, saw her play a troubled teenage daughter - with Kate taking on the role of her mother.
Ahead of her biggest role yet in Wes Anderson's latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, Mia Threapleton has shown a fresh determination to shed the label of 'nepo baby' (pictured left on Sunday at 24 and Kate Winslet pictured right in 1998 at 23)
Though Kate has emphasised that she only got her daughter a small part in 2014's A Little Chaos, she has revealed it was that experience that confirmed Mia's passion to pursue an acting career - an opportunity that the wide majority will never get.
Appearing on Variety's Actors on Actors in 2015, she chatted with Saoirse Ronan, who detailed how she had fallen in love with acting aged 13 on the set of Atonement, after getting her first taste with a part in a short film starring her father - who is also an actor.
Kate admitted that Mia had enjoyed a similar experience, saying: 'My own daughter actually had a small part in a film that I did a couple of years ago, as a teeny-tiny thing. But it was enough to already have that feeling of, 'I think I need more of this.''
While in contrast to Mia's recollections, she also recalled her daughter coming to visit her during filming, sharing a funny anecdote that revealed how comfortable she was on set.
She explained: 'I was on set with her, and she'd come to visit something I'd done when she was eight or nine.
'And I was having a snack in between takes, and she went, 'Mommy I really, really don't think that you should be eating on set.' I was like, "Oh my God, you're right, I'm so sorry! You really are right, okay back to work!".'
She has also insisted she was not the brains behind Mia's I Am Ruth casting, but somewhat debunked the idea that her daughter had no advantages in the process.
The Titanic star recalled telling the show's creator, Dominic Savage: 'You have to audition her, and that has to be separate to me.'
The show's producer Krish Majumdar, also insisted in a radio interview: 'Mia was there completely on merit and her performance was terrific.'
But Kate also admitted that the idea of casting Mia had originated with Dominic because he was interested in the idea of putting a real-life mother and daughter together on screen.
And undoubtedly the duo's strong performances were aided by the fact that their mother and daughter bond already existed and meant they could draw on their real emotions and experiences, rather than rely purely on their acting skills.
Mia admitted that their real life connection 'helped in a way because the chemistry, the connection, the emotional bond between us as a mother and daughter who are very close to each other, was already there'.
While Kate has agreed that there was 'some overlap' between her real-life role as Mia's mother, and starring as her on-screen parent in the drama.
Mia's first lead role came in 2020 Irish independent film Shadows, which she landed right after leaving school, without any formal training or experience.
Speaking about getting the part to Variety, she admitted she 'couldn't believe her luck' in getting the role on her first audition.
She said: 'I had just finished school, was free of exam hell, and felt excited, nervous and ready to start auditioning for things, and hoping that the opportunities to audition would come my way. I just hoped I would get the chance to do what I had wanted to do for so long!
Mia's first lead role came in 2020 Irish independent film Shadows, which she landed right after leaving school, without any formal training or experience, admitting she 'couldn't believe her luck' in nabbing the part (pictured in film). Right: Kate pictured in Mare of Easttown
'Shadows was the first film I'd received an audition for, and the first script I had ever been given to read. I couldn't believe my luck. I read it and didn't put it down...
'Which is admitting a lot because I'm dyslexic and that means I have to read slowly and steadily to be able to absorb things fully sometimes.'
However, Mia has frequently hit back at claims she is a 'nepo baby' or that she had a helping hand in the industry through her mum and dad.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, she emphasized her belief that she is not a nepo baby, stating her mother had been 'quite caught off-guard' by her announcement she wanted to be an actress at 10 years old.
She added that she signed herself up to online casting sites at the age of 15, 'to try and see what was out there', affirming: 'I wanted to do that on my own'.
While Mia shut down attempts by the interviewer to probe about getting an easier ride in the industry with famous parents, saying: 'I don't really know how to answer that, to be honest.'
And she claimed her famous parentage has led to a 'misconception' that she was submerged in the acting world from an early age.
She said: 'I feel like it's a misconception about me, considering who my mother is, that I grew up going to set or that I would know anything about this world because of her and what she does.
'That is not the case at all. I genuinely can count on not even two hands the amount of times I went to set as a kid. There were never scripts lying around the house.'
And Mia has previously insisted she didn't get to spend much time learning acting skills by watching Kate work as a child.
Speaking to Variety, she admitted: 'I never actually spent much time around sets that my mum was working on. It was always a special treat.
'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.'
Yet, she was raised around a slew of successful stars in the industry, including her director father Jim Threapleton, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as her stepfather from 2003 to 2011, and refers to Leonardo DiCaprio as 'Uncle Leo'.
Kate previously revealed the close bond that her Titanic co-star has with her kids, telling Marie Clare: 'Well, me and Leo are very good friends. He adores my children but the problem is, he spoils them rotten!'
Meanwhile, Mia has shared that Kate has gifted her some solid acting tips, such as: 'Read the damn script as many times as you can!'
Yet, she was raised around a slew of successful stars in the industry, including her director father Jim Threapleton, Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes as her stepfather from 2003 to 2011, and refers to Leonardo DiCaprio as 'Uncle Leo' (seen with Kate and dad Jim in 2001)
And she's said that Kate has been very supportive of her career and has been invaluable in preparing her for the difficulties that come with the job.
She told The Times: 'She was very, very encouraging of me doing it on my own and for myself, having the experiences being mine and mine alone.
'But she always - I mean, always - emphasised the hard work that goes into it and the effort that needs to go into it'.
Some in the industry who have worked with both mother and daughter have also suggested that Mia has learned a lot from Kate and benefitted immensely from having the Reader star as a 'source of support'.
Emmy-winning costume designer Kate Carin worked on 1998's Hideous Kinky with a then 22-year-old Kate and then on The Buccaneers when Mia was the exact same age.
In an interview with Hello! in 2023, she praised Mia's talents, but also pointed out the similarities between her and her mum, admitting being a nepo baby was both a 'blessing and a curse'.
She said: 'I think it's a blessing and a curse to be the daughter of somebody as well-known as Kate, but Mia is magical. I feel as though she's got the whole world ahead of her.'
While the designer also acknowledged how ideal Kate is as a role model for an aspiring actress, saying: 'Mia is going through what Kate went through at that age and I guess she'd be a great source of support.
'I don't know if it's nature or nurture, but that girl is professional through and through, and Kate is professional through and through. Kate likes to have great fun but knows when she's got to be taken seriously, and Mia was the same: excellent fun.'
And it has clearly paid off, with Mia already having several award wins under her belt ahead of landing a coveted lead role in The Phoenician Scheme opposite acting titans like Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch.
In February, she scored the Breakout Artist Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival UK and won the same prize on Saturday at the Variety and Golden Globes Breakthrough Artists Party during Cannes Film Festival.
In her acceptance speech she shared a diary entry than she wrote 12 years ago, as a teenager, which read: 'Watching Moonrise Kingdom again, bloody love this film. Would love to work with Wes Anderson one day', and reflected: 'It sort of happened'.
It stands as an early sign she is following her mother's path, after Kate received her first Oscar nomination at just 20 years old for Sense and Sensibility.
She went on to receive a staggering seven nods in total, with a win for Best Actress in 2009 for The Reader, alongside five BAFTAs, two Emmys, five Golden Globes and a Grammy.
However, Kate herself has also insisted that Mia hasn't benefitted from having an award-winning actress and a film director as parents.
In 2021, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind star claimed that by having a different surname to her, Mia's acting successes are all on her own merit.
In 2021, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind star claimed that by having a different surname to her, Mia's acting successes are all on her own merit (pictured left in 2010 and Mia pictured right in 2023)
Speaking on Lorraine, she said: 'Mia is 20 and acting. She's away now in the Czech Republic about to start on a TV series over there. I think I knew it was coming, I always suspected. And then a few years ago she turned around and said, I'd like to give it a go...
'What's great for her is she has a different surname so she slipped under the radar and the people who cast her didn't know she was my daughter and that was important for her self-esteem of course'.
However, others have pointed out that Kate herself was brought up in a family of actors, with her father and both older and younger sisters all also being actors, as well as her maternal grandparents - who also ran the Reading Repertory Theatre Company.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2004, she said she inherited her hard working ethic from watching her family's efforts in the industry, explaining: 'I come from a family of hard-working actors who relish it when they do go to work and take part-time jobs in between.'
And before Mia's acting ambitions were made known, Kate told SBS News in 2014 that she had wanted her kids to explore lots of different career options, rather than follow in her footsteps.
She said: 'All I ever hope is that they [her children] find lots of things they can do that they love, because then someday they'll settle on one of them having experienced lots of other things along the way. Whereas, for me, I just loved acting. I loved it and still feel that way.'
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