Kate Winslet weighs on controversial 'Titanic' scene: 'Why were they so mean to me?'

Kate Winslet has blasted "borderline abusive" body-shaming from Titanic fans.

The 47-year-old star has hit out against cruel trolls who claimed her weight was the reason Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack couldn't get on the floating door with Rose to ensure they both survived at the end of the 1997 blockbuster.

Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she said: "Apparently I was too fat. Why were they so mean to me?

"They were so mean. I wasn't even f****** fat."

Kate also reflected on how she wished she'd have addressed the vile comments at the time.

She added: "I would have responded, I would have said, ‘Don’t you dare treat me like this. I’m a young woman, my body is changing, I’m figuring it out, I’m deeply insecure, I’m terrified, don’t make this any harder than it already is.’

"That’s bullying, you know, and actually borderline abusive, I would say."

The Oscar-winning actress has spoken about body shaming before, and she recently recalled being told to settle for "fat girl" roles as a young performer at acting school, while her agent would later ask about her "weight".

She said: "It can be extremely negative. People are subject to scrutiny that is more than a young, vulnerable person can cope with. But in the film industry, it is really changing.

"When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, ‘How’s her weight?’ I kid you not. So it’s heartwarming that this has started to change."

Kate insisted she hopes times have changed because she has very different priorities now.

She added: "As a middle-aged woman, I care about being that actor who moves their face and has a body that jiggles."

The Avatar: The Way of Water star also opened up about how social media has changed life for anyone in the public eye - insisting the internet puts unnecessary pressure on young actors as they are unable to move on from their mistakes.

She explained: "It was hard enough [for me] having the flipping [defunct UK tabloid] News of the World on my doorstep, but that doesn't even cut it now.

"That phrase about 'today's news being tomorrow's fish and chip paper' doesn't exist. The thing you did when you were drunk or foolish? It may come back to haunt you. Needing to be on one's guard for young actors is just a different thing. It must be extraordinarily hard."

- Bang! Showbiz