Kate Winslet’s tribute to Elizabeth Taylor in V magazine: ridiculous or gorgeous?

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Kate Winslet is still promoting Contagion, which comes out this weekend. So basically, she’s all up in our faces everywhere, including the latest cover of V Magazine (Issue #73), which was shot by Mario Testino. This issue of the magazine is called “The Heroes Issue,” so Winslet is all dolled up in an homage to the iconic Elizabeth Taylor while adorned in scarves, turbans, pearls and diamonds as a tribute to one of Taylor’s own infamous photoshoots. Here are few excerpts to the accompanying interview:

On Nude Scenes: “I hate it! Listen make no mistake, I just get on it,” she says about baring it all on film. “I just go in and say ‘Oh f&*# let’s do it.’ and boom. If you complain about it or procrastinate it’s not going to go away. Its a profoundly bizarre thing to do. As actors you talk about it all the time. You can literally be tangled in sheets, and you turn to the other actor and say ‘What the f&*# are we doing?’ Dear Mum, at work today I had so-and-so’s left nut sack pressed against my cheek. It’s sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms.”

On Her Acting Career: “I hope I am sh-tting myself over the characters I play for the rest of my life. Because the day I go ‘Oh yeah, that’s going to be a piece of pie’, why f&*#ing bother? If you do that, you do not learn. I hope I’m always learning something. So I won an Oscar. It’s amazing. I’ve got that for the rest of my life for a performance I am proud of. It nearly killed me. I am really proud of the film. That’s it, moving on.”

[From V Magazine]

Nut sack, really? That’s an appetizing thought. As always, I appreciate Winslet’s candid way of speaking. However, I also appreciate that she’s not (at least that we know of at this point) talking about plastic surgery in this interview. Otherwise, does she pull this Liz Taylor homage off in a rightful fashion? In the photo where only her forehead and eyes are visible, she sort of does. Otherwise? Not a chance in hell.

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Photos courtesy of V Magazine

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62 Responses to “Kate Winslet’s tribute to Elizabeth Taylor in V magazine: ridiculous or gorgeous?”

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  1. Liz says:

    lovely

  2. Goofpuff says:

    goregous pictures even if they are a bit tweaked

  3. lucy2 says:

    The photos are beautiful, but I don’t think anyone should try to be Liz.

  4. mln76 says:

    The photos are nice but Liz just died and Kate has way tooo much personality to do a proper tribute without her persona invading the shoot.

  5. Barbara says:

    They are good…but no one can top pics of Liz Taylor

  6. Jenny says:

    When I see these, I don’t think Elizabeth Taylor. If someone had not said it was a tribute to her, I would never have guessed.

  7. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    Regarding the headline: pointless.

  8. Kate will always be one of my favorites!

  9. Turtle Dove says:

    Liz Taylor was a favorite of mine, so any tribute to her (that isn’t done by LiLo) is fine by me.

  10. Jackson says:

    I look at this sort of thing as more of an homage, to capture the spirit if not necessarily the exact look. I generally can’t stand this sort of thing though. It seems that fashion photography does the same as Hollywood – copy and remake, instead of coming up with something fresh and original. Lovely pics though.

  11. Liz says:

    And I fully agree with @mln76

  12. the original bellaluna says:

    Liz is an “always, ever, only” – no one can touch her.

  13. apsutter says:

    Beautiful! I love her with strong brows..she really pulls them off.

  14. Seal Team 6 says:

    Lovely photos.

    And, I bet good money Liz would be flattered by the homage. I don’t get why her death a few months ago has anything to do with this. It is a tribute, not a slam, and Liz loved a tribute!

    Any woman who was literally late to her own funeral wouldn’t mind this spread, especially one done by an Academy Award winner (as someone said upthread, it isn’t Lindsay Lohan!).

  15. Firecracker says:

    I love that she cusses up a storm in the interview.

  16. coco says:

    she looks stunning.

  17. MJ says:

    I like that they covered her own natural mole, only to draw one on about 1″ further to the side.

  18. Booboocita says:

    Why not? She did Catherine Deneuve for Vanity Fair, so Elizabeth Taylor for V is the next logical step. And then Lucille Ball for Vogue, and Joan Crawford for Elle, and Ava Gardner for Bazaar …

  19. dear kaiser says:

    Kate’s my favorite actress. Best of her generation but this proves that it takes more than the Liz Taylor brows to make it work (think Kevyn Aucoin’s coffee table books). Kate’s mouth area ruins her, especially when she’s smiling. No one seems to have it all today. Elizabeth Hurley and Joan Collins have the same malformed mouth area as well.

  20. Leigh says:

    I think she looks stunning. I have to agree with some of the other comments – she’s not trying to be her, or outshine her – its a tribute to her.. and a beautiful one at that…

  21. badrockandroll says:

    Jackson, I’m going to take your comment one step further. If all that is being done now with fashion and with fashion photography is to imitate Hollywood stars of yesteryear like Audrey, Marilyn and Liz, what is being produced now that is truly fresh and groundbreaking that be copied lovingly in 50 years? Lohan – nah, the K clan – nah, Juicy – nah, Avril Lavigne’s or Posh’s lines – nah.

    So what will we be nostalgic for 20 years from now? What will we see as icons of the first decade of the 21st centruy? Will the starlet of 2031 be doing tributes to Kate’s tribute to Liz? This lack of imagination exists in film, televison and music too & is too depressing!

  22. CanCan says:

    It’s a nice tribute. Liz is a legend. Kate seems like she would be really fun to go bar hopping with. The tipsier she gets the more potty mouthed and outrageous she would become.
    I like how she chose good roles and focused on quality scripts.

  23. daisy says:

    she looks like rizzo from grease

  24. LeeLoo says:

    I like it. I think Kate pulled if off very well except for the photo where the towel shows her blonde hair. Seriously, Kate, TINT YOUR EYEBROWS!!

  25. francesca says:

    Joan Crawford more like.

  26. spinner says:

    Beautiful pics. Well done, Kate. I wish she would go back to her natural hair color & do her brows dark like this. Stunning!!

  27. KateNonymous says:

    I guess it’s a nice tribute, but even the styling doesn’t make her look like Elizabeth Taylor.

  28. 4Real says:

    Why did they paint on a mole when she already had one nearby?? LOL!!

    She photographs well…those are pretty but she’s no LIZ!

  29. Booboocita says:

    @Badrockandroll — we’ll be nostalgic for Snookie, of course! The starlets of tomorrow will pose in too-small, too-short skirts and trucker hats, wearing hairy boots and making duck faces! I can’t wait …

  30. Courtney says:

    In films Kate Reminds me alot of Liz but in real life the way she carries herself reminds me more of Jean Simmons or Vanessa Redgrave. especially that pic of her wearing the diamond flower broach in her hair Liz used to do that often or wear a real Gardenia in her hair. for the poster up thread that mentioned Joan Collins she actually used to hang around with Liz and also infact had some of the same leading men including Paul Newman

  31. Truthful says:

    she looks gorgeous..as someone mentioned “homage’ a few celebs
    have done it..

    except hers looks just lovely.

  32. Carolyn says:

    Ooh lots of photoshopping to make Kate look fab. Nice photos in a style similar to Liz. I don’t think Kate has any style of her own – she’s a blank canvas for stylists to dress her up and put different make up on.

  33. Mauibound says:

    Kate has what Liz had, Balls . Female kind. I had forgotten how beautiful Elizabeth Taylor was until the old photos came out after her passing. I see echos of that in Kate, lovely photos.

  34. palermo says:

    I like Kate, but she’s no Elizabeth Taylor

  35. Green_Eyes says:

    Liz was KNOWN FOE CUSSIN UP A Storm and her CANDOR. Being Brithish, that is another thing they have in common… That being said other thank the drawn in eye brows and beauty mark nothing else is Liz.. And though Liz was candid and swore like a sailor, she never had it put in the interviews til she was too old to care.

    STILL NOONE can ever touch the true essence, beauty, and persona that will alway remain one of the worlds most beautiful women EVER Ms. Elizabeth Taylor….. And I do think it’s tacky to try so soon..she has been gone that long.

  36. Camille says:

    No she doesn’t look like La Liz, but she does look lovely.

  37. ViktoryGin says:

    Nice 60s vibe but not Liz Taylor.

  38. gee says:

    ehhh.. they’re ET-ish. Nothing special.

  39. bonzo says:

    Those are quite the caterpillars over her eyes.

  40. Blithe says:

    I actually think she looks a lot like her! Especially when she paints her eyebrows super dark. And I like the phtos. Well done.

  41. eternalcanadian says:

    Unnecessary. Kate is her own person and she shouldn’t be going around trying to look like or dressing up as someone like Elizabeth Taylor who is the ultimate icon.

  42. LittleDeadGrrl says:

    I do love her way of speaking. It makes me laugh.

  43. MB says:

    Who gives a damn whether she looks like Liz Taylor? Some people are sounding as though its her fault she doesnt look enough like Liz!
    I would rather she didnt as, personally, I find Kate Winslet to be better looking but that is just my personal taste. Kate’s profile is amazing – I wish I looked like her!

  44. RobN says:

    She should be careful; unless of course she’s trying to look like an old tranny, in which case, well done!

  45. badrockandroll says:

    Booboocita: You’ve just added one more reason for me to worry for the future.

  46. Lee says:

    Beautiful pix and not at all as ridiculous as the Harper’s B cover with Jennifer Aniston trying to look like Barbara Streisand! Now that was ridiculous!

  47. Hmmm says:

    She looks godawful.

  48. kikay says:

    She looks like a tranny Joan Crawford,since Kristen had her 60’s version of Taylor /Presly headshots taken,Angelina and now this one tries to copy her,but they don’t have Kristen face structure that you can transform into anybody and get good results,so even Kate is not trying to be Liz it’s still mehhh!

  49. jover says:

    Excellent points badrockandroll – there’s a book by simon reynolds called Retromania recently reviewed approvingly in the wsj that addresses this fascination with nostalgia in pop music – Amy Winehouse was a great singer but she was reviving forms what 40 years old not innovating – today’s “starlets” just don’t capture the imagination of the public like liz for her generation – there may not even be nostalgia everything will be present oriented.

  50. Ell says:

    Meh. Her lips ruin it. I keep expecting that uniqueness Taylor exhumed and it is not there when you add Winslet to it.

  51. Addie says:

    @ Badrockandroll. Agreed, nothing original nowadays.

    I do however think that the future star will themselves also imitate the same stars of yesteryear imitated today.
    With maybe some Angelina (rightly)added to that group.

    True movie stars are a dying breed.

  52. benny says:

    She looks like Madonna trying to look like Elizabeth Taylor.

    She couldn’t hold a candle to Deneuve, and she can’t hold one to Taylor. If you’re gonna try to copy a legend, you better be able to represent. She utterly fails at it.

  53. Flan says:

    Way better than all those Monroe tributes.

    Love Liz and am so sad she died. She might have been scandalous, but she had a 1000 times better heart than most people in Hollywood now.

  54. Katherine says:

    I see someone beat me to it – Kate as Joan Crawford is closer to the truth. She looks nothing like Liz.

  55. Suzie says:

    The photos look what they are: Kate Winslett dressing up like Liz Taylor. Innocuous enough. No harm done.

  56. Enzo says:

    2Things: Too soon & No resemblance
    http://enzo5.blogspot.com/

  57. Faye says:

    Lovely, a beautiful tribute from one woman to another.

    In regards to posters talking about how singular and untoppable Liz Taylor was, I don’t think that was the point of the shoot. I think it was a way of paying respect to a late film star.

  58. Sara says:

    I love Kate as an actress; she can do no wrong in my eyes.

  59. B says:

    When I first saw these pics (elsewhere) I was anticipating both a Celebitchy write-up and subsequent outrage. Surprised to see none of the latter.

    I agree with others that she really doesn’t evoke Elizabeth and that her mouth totally ruins it. Not to mention, she doesn’t have Liz’s killer set of peepers. I think Sherilyn Fenn is as close as it’s ever going to get. Someone upthread mentioned Kevyn Aucoin; if he were still around, I think he could have successfully created a Liz look-a-like (could definitely see him doing Maggie the Cat) but I don’t think he would have choosen Kate for it. On an off-note: his transformation of Lisa Marie Presley into Marilyn is so convincing that I’ve seen it credited all over the internet as Marilyn herself. Also, being as someone mentioned Aniston unsuccessfully trying to do Streisand; he also did up Isabella Rosselli as Streisand and you’d swear it *was* Barbra.

  60. Laura says:

    At least it wasn’t ANOTHER Marilyn homage.

  61. Mediaone says:

    Nice photos, but actress Alexis Kiley looks like Taylor naturally without any special make-up. They should have picked her.