Kate Winslet recalls working with the police to prepare for first TV role in 10 years on Mare of Easttown

It’s been 10 long years since Academy Award winning actress Kate Winslet has starred in a television role, but all that is about to change.

With Sky Atlantic’s new drama, Mare of Easttown airing it’s premier tonight (19th April), audiences will get to see Kate on their screens as the small-town detective, Mare Sheehan. The seven-parter follows Mare as she attempts to rebuild her reputation in the wake of her son’s suicide.

It’s no secret that Kate is dedicated to her craft. She recalls working with the police in preparation for her latest role, saying that she “wanted to capture the essence of what it’s like to really be a detective.”

Kate says: “I didn’t want to just be quickly shown on the day, so I really did spend several months working with the Easttown Police Department, as well as Marple Township Police Department and they were all amazing,” she recalls.

With countless crime dramas to binge on, an actor could be forgiven for skipping real world research and going straight to the box for inspiration. But not Kate, who reveals she “deliberately” avoided any existing TV shows.

“What I did do was I watched a lot of real crime drama and a lot of YouTube footage. Particularly of the opioid district, Kensington, Philadelphia.”

Diligent as ever, the 45-year-old actress also took to the streets with real police officers to learn the ropes and gain insight into her latest character.

The actress adds: “I spent some time working with real police department individuals in blacked-out vehicles driving around those areas in order to learn.

“The people there were just wonderful and so incredibly helpful with everything we had to do. And if anything ever felt fake or phony, we would say, ‘Tell us, please tell us right away.’”

Kate was fond of one female sergeant detective in particular, Christine Bleiler.

“She would come up to me and say, ‘Mm, no, that’s what they do on TV. Don’t do that. And she would correct us and I would love it so much,” Kate remembers.

“I’d get so obsessed with putting the handcuffs on correctly, but she said, ‘Sometimes it can be messy. It can be a fumble. Things go wrong, allow for that. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.'”

In spite of all her observation, the Titanic actress admits that she wouldn’t be much good at the job. “I’d make a lousy detective. I’d be very good at the coffee and the after-beers, but this character felt a million miles away from me in terms of the job she does.”