CelebSpice

Kate Winslet "freaked out" when she had to perform sex scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio. The Oscar-winning actress was so disturbed by the relaxed attitude of her husband Sam Mendes - who she is now separated from - to the raunchy scenes in 2008 film 'Revolutionary Road' it made her question her marriage.

Leonardo told Reveal magazine: "It was certainly a difficult time. She was really worried that Sam wasn't bothered by the fact that his wife was making out with another guy right in front of him. I told her it was only acting, but she kept on saying, 'This is really weird.'
"When Sam started telling her exactly how to have sex with me she didn't like it at all. She was freaking out because she was supposed to be having sex with her best friend - me - while her husband directed. But I didn't find it weird at all. It didn't bother me, because that's part of acting."
Kate and Sam - who married in secret in the Caribbean in May 2003 - split in March by "mutual agreement" and Leonardo thinks Hollywood was responsible for the death of their marriage.
The 35-year-old actor - who has been close friends with Kate since they starred in 'Titanic' together - said: "She loved being a wife. Some people are meant to be married and I think Kate's one of them, but Hollywood and this movie business can be a killer for marriages."
Shortly after their split it was reported Kate and Sam had a trial separation in 2009 after falling out while working together on 'Revolutionary Road'.
A source said: "Working and living together was incredibly intense and basically overwhelmed their relationship.
"The pair have a very different work ethos - Sam wanted to switch off after a long day and Kate liked to analyze every nuance of her performance. It was just too much."
The couple raise two children together, son Joe, six, and Kate's daughter Mia, nine, from her marriage to Jim Threapleton.
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It's been four-and-a-half years since Brooke Burns (pictured) broke her neck in a diving accident -- and miraculously made a full recovery. Looking back, she says the event changed her life.

"I think it's impossible to go through something like that and not be changed. You kind of take an inventory of who is in your life and what you're doing with your life, where you're spending your time. You place more importance on relationships, and you don't take other things so seriously," says the actress, who has a 10-year-old daughter with former husband Julian McMahon.
     
The beauty, who rose to fame on "Baywatch," has been involved in spinal cord research and support charities since her recovery. "I have a bit of survivor's guilt," she admits. She will serve as co-chairman of this year's gala fundraiser for the now-merged Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation/Life Rolls On in Beverly Hills this October.
    
"Once you've faced a life-or-death moment, you don't sweat the small stuff," she adds. "You learn to be flexible. You learn to laugh more."
     
Speaking of learning to laugh, both her latest projects offer opportunities. She hosts Oxygen's Aug. 10-debuting "Hair Battle Spectacular" and has the "Titanic 2" spoof movie coming our way on DVD next month.
    
The new TV reality competition showcases fantasy hair stylists -- people who create hair looks that might incorporate, say, three-foot guitars or toys with moving parts. Seriously. "I loved the idea of bringing this tiny underground subculture into the public eye," says Burns. "These battles go on all over the country." The stylists' personalities are "radical and outrageous," she says, and remind her of her modeling days in Milan, Berlin and Paris. "There's the visual appeal, the 'Oh, my God!' It's all bigger than life -- very Oxygen, very live out loud."
     
As far as "Titanic 2," Burns would like to correct the media misconception that "I'm playing the Kate Winslet role" in the forthcoming comedy. "It's not like that at all," she says, noting that "Titanic 2" takes place 100 years after the infamous sinking. "My character is working for the environment, living on a glacier and studying atmospheric changes. I'm not in the love story.
     
"It's hilarious," she adds. "I was really looking forward to working with Bruce Davison, who's also in it. I'm such an admirer of his."
    
A CHANGE OF PACE: Hutch Dano, best known as the first half of "Zeke and Luther" on Disney XD, says he got a real kick out of playing a not-so-nice guy for a change in his "Den Brother" Disney Channel Original Movie, coming up Aug. 13. In it, he's a self-absorbed high school hockey player who winds up posing as the den mother -- complete with old lady gear -- of his little sister's Bumble Bee troupe. He then takes advantage of the situation and uses the little girls as his personal servants. "I read the script and thought, 'This guy is the worst big brother ever,'" notes Dano, who has a little sister himself.
    
He is much nicer in real life, of course, and also as Henry Huggins -- the children's literature character he plays in "Ramona and Beezus," opening today (7/23). Dano admits he didn't know Huggins until prepping for the part.
    
"I was trying to figure him out, to get as many layers as possible. Not so much that he's complex, but I had to find that gentle balance of his fun side and his shy side, and his wanting to be with Beezus," he says, referring to Selena Gomez's character in the 20th Century Fox adaptation of the beloved Beverly Cleary book.
    
"One of the best things about working with Selena is she's a very giving actor," he observes. "She'll help other actors with scenes. I've seen her ask, 'Would you like me to read this a different way?' It's really nice."
    
With Season 2 of "Zeke and Luther" airing, Dano is awaiting word on Season 3. "I've heard a lot of rumors that it's happening," he says of the series, which has performed well with the male kid and tween audience at which it's aimed. "But I try not to get too excited about anything until it's confirmed. I love doing the show."
     
INDUSTRY BITS: Can you envision "Foster Home" -- the reality show? Forces on the project have been casting for a celebrity host for the pilot presentation. What's wanted is someone African-American, male or female, 20-45, and they'd love to find someone who has ties to the foster care system. Let us hope it is not exploitative and invasive of the privacy of already beleaguered children.
    
Over at DreamWorks, casting is under way for the remake of Tom Holland's 1985 "Fright Night," about a high school senior who finds himself living next door to a handsome vampire.
    
(Image: WENN)

The split may not be permanent. The news of the Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes break up shocked some celebrity observers and now a report claims the two may be inching towards reconciling.

According to Britain's Sunday Express, Winslet and Mendes are spending the summer as a family in England.  
"They are going to stay at the house with the children this summer and see if they can reignite their spark," says a source.
"Sam has always been able to walk away from girlfriends before, but now there are children involved he wants to see if he can work it out with Kate."  

The UK Daily Mail reveals another item linked to the split, beautiful British actress Rebecca Hall laughed off rumors of an affair as she responded to the allegations she was the Sam Mendes girlfriend that helped split the couple's relationship.  
The 28-year-old directly denied the rumors with a blunt 'No' when questioned by a U.S. magazine, the paper reports. 
Will Sam and Kate reunite as a couple permanently?  
(Image: WENN)

Kate Winslet has injured herself playing basketball.

The 34-year-old actress was left badly bruised following the accident - which she sustained while playing with her children, Mia, nine, and Joe, six - and filming on her new five-hour long mini-series 'Mildred Pierce' has been suspended as a result.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "She fell after being hit by a basketball and suffered bruising that couldn't be covered with make-up, so the entire production was halted on Monday (24.05.10)."

A representative for the Oscar-winning star confirmed the accident but added she is "fine".

Lea Michele (pictured) apologized, via Twitter, to Patrick McMullan, a photographer she snubbed at the Time 100 Gala last week.  She said it was a bad joke and she is sorry.  The actress earlier said that being named one of Time Magazine’s most 100 influential people is “very surreal”. The Glee actress attended the gala event in New York City to honor those on the list.

Michele also revealed the women who have inspired her, naming Barbra Streisand, actress Kate Winslet and her mum as those she admires.
“I think just all women who are incredible positive role models,” she told Access Hollywood.

“Just really strong women are wonderfully influential.”
Asked whose music she would next like to see on the musical show, Michele declared: “I think Justin Timberlake would be great But I think he’s too perfect, so I think they’re probably saving him for a while. I would be fine with some SexyBack, that’s for sure.”
(Image: Splash News)

A documentary narrated by actress Kate Winslet debuts on U.S. television Friday aiming to take audiences beyond narrow depictions of autism in films like "Rain Man" and expose them more broadly to the disability.

The film, "A Mother's Courage: Talking Back To Autism," is based upon an Icelandic woman's journey as she meets scientists and autism experts in the United States in an effort to improve the life of her 10 year-old son.

"Mother's Courage" premieres on cable TV's HBO on World Autism Awareness Day, and shows Margret Dagmar Ericsdottir struggling to find treatments for her autistic son, Keli.

Along with Winslet, Icelandic musicians Bjork and Sigur Ros add their voices and music to the movie, and Iceland's first lady Dorrit Moussaieff backed the project when filming began four years ago. While celebrities bring name value to "Mother's Courage," its makers say their aim is to educate and change narrow perceptions of autism.

In 1988 Oscar-winning film "Rain Man," for instance, Dustin Hoffman played an autistic man and mathematical genius who is taken on a road trip by his brother (played by Tom Cruise) and along the way counts cards at casinos to win some money.

"Autism is more varied than reflected in that movie" said Ericsdottir, noting it was what many people associated with the disability even 22 years after it played in theaters.

Autism is a general term for a group of developmental brain disorders and symptoms, such as problems with social interaction and communication, and it can range from mild to severe. Its cause is unknown and there is no known cure.

One in 110 U.S. children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year, with boys factoring much higher, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HUMOROUS AND HEART-WRENCHING

Directed by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, the film shows both humorous and heart-wrenching realities of families raising autistic kids and navigating diagnoses and treatments that sometimes conflict.

"In addition to coping with the disability, they must cope with the negative attitudes of society," said Ericsdottir. "This is because people aren't educated and informed enough."

The film shows Ericsdottir visiting a variety of experts, treatment centers and schools, including a Helping Autism through Learning and Outreach (HALO) center in Austin, Texas that uses a method called rapid prompting, a technique designed to help those with autism to focus and respond.

"Mother's Courage" provides no answers to autism but shows hope. Ericsdottir eventually moved Keli and her family from Iceland to be closer to the Austin-based center.

"I thought there was no hope for Keli," she said. "He is so different now because he is starting to communicate."

Contrary to the film's title, Ericsdottir said she did not think of herself as brave.

"I just did it because I love him so much, and he deserves the very best of life," she said. "If the film can free these children, it is worth the effort."

More information can be found at www.amotherscourage.org, and www.worldautismawarenessday.org provides links to autism organizations in each country.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Bob Tourtellotte)

Kate Winslet wants to move out of her marital home because it is "tainted" with bad memories.

The Oscar-winning actress - who split from her film director husband Sam Mendes earlier this year - is desperate to leave their $6 million New York mansion because she can't stop thinking about the arguments they had since they moved there in 2005.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "Kate really wants to leave the apartment. She sees it as a house of horrors because of the fights she and Sam had there. She feels it is tainted."

The 34-year-old star is desperate to return to the UK as soon as possible, so she can spend time with her close friends.

Drawing comparisons to Oscar-winning American actress Sandra Bullock, Oscar-winning British actress Kate Winslet (pictured) has reportedly pulled put of a New York City film premiere amid turmoil over her split from husband Sam Mendes.

Bullock recently canceled an appearance in Europe to promote her film "The Blind Side" amidst rumors of an affair between her husband Jesse James and a stripper and model named Michelle "Bombshell" McGee.
Now Kate has reportedly canceled an appearance well.  The beautiful blonde actress is said to have quietly removed her name from the list of attendees for a screening of A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism, which she narrated.

Winslet, a mother-of-two, announced she and her director husband were separating last week after almost seven years of marriage.
The documentary film follows an Icelandic mother who travels to the US to research new therapies for her 10-year-old son, who is severely autistic. It will be released on World Autism Awareness Day, April 2, on HBO.
(Image: Splash News)

Kate Winslet is being supported through her marriage break-up by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The actress turned to her 'Titanic' co-star when problems started to surface in her relationship with director Sam Mendes as the trio worked together on 2008 movie 'Revolutionary Road' and she is said to be relying on his support to get through this difficult time.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Leonardo and Kate have been like brother and sister since they starred in 'Titanic' together.

"And since Kate's marriage problems started, around the time they were filming 'Revolutionary Road', they've got closer again. Kate feels like she can tell Leonardo anything.

"They were thrust into stardom together and were the only people who knew what the other was going through. He's been a rock for her."

The 34-year-old actress split from the 'American Beauty' director earlier this year after six years of marriage.

A statement from law firm Schillings said: "Kate and Sam are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year. The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement.

"Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children. They ask that the media respect their privacy at this time."