Winslet's Method Acting Struggle

The actress plays a former Nazi concentration camp guard in the post-war drama, and put all her emotions into the intense role.

And Winslet, whose performance in the film won her a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe last week (11Jan09), admits it took months for her to bid farewell to the character.

She says, "It's like I've escaped from a serious car accident and need to understand what has just happened.

"When I leave a character, I have to analyse the trance through which I have just passed. It can take me several months to say goodbye to them."

And she has credited her filmmaker husband Sam Mendes with helping her back to reality: "My husband is a fantastic support. He knows when to leave me alone with a cup of tea and a pack of cigs, and, if I break down in tears, he takes me in his arms. He knows that I have to go through all that in order to 'come back'."