But it paid off, when Kate Winslet won the Best Actress in a miniseries or movie Emmy award for her role in Mildred Pierce. She talks about her interest in the human condition, and tackling naysayers who called her move to TV, 'downsizing'

"Am I actually late?" Yes, she is. Kate Winslet pops into the suite at Venice' Excelsior Hotel with a 15-minute-delay. But there is no reason holding this against her. First of all, she can think of an impromptu excuse: "I can blame the boats." Then, because the actual cause is even more forgiveable: She stepped out for a smoke under the assumption the interviewer would mind her puffing away during the conversation. After being reassured that this would be no problem, she spends half of the time rolling her cigarettes and indulging in another nicotine splurge. But the true reason why the 35 year-old actress can almost get away with murder simply has to do with her good-natured attitude, her spunk and her disarming genuineness that nothing on the earth seems to be able to faze -- not her divorce from Sam Mendes, not even a burning house. No wonder why director Todd Field cast her as Mildred Pierce, the true paragon of survival skills, who weathers a storm of family conflicts in this celebrated HBO adaptation of the James M. Cain novel or why she had no qualms serving under the tutelage of Roman Polanski in the movie version of the married-couple-battle, Carnage. Then again, actress only seems a side job for her, as her true occupation are and remain her two kidsu00a0-- Mia Honey, 10, and Joe Alfie, 7.