Kate Winslet Reflects on Divorce, Ned Rocknroll Marriage

USMagazine, Tuesday, March 5, 2013, 8:00am (PST)

It's been an eventful several years for Kate Winslet. The celebrated British actress, 37, won her first Best Actress Oscar (for The Reader) in February 2009; split from second husband, director Sam Mendes, the following year; rebounded with model Louis Dowler in late 2010; in summer 2011, Winslet stepped out with a new man, Richard Branson's nephew Ned Rocknroll. In December 2012, Winslet and Rocknroll shocked everyone with news that they'd recently wed.

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"I've really learned a great deal about myself, in the last four years in particular," Winslet explains (via Daily Mail) in the April issue of Harper's Bazaar UK. "I think I can see more clearly now – about how the pattern of past experiences has shaped who I am, and the characters I have played – and I'm grateful for that."

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Winslet met Rocknroll, a Virgin Galactic executive whose given name was Ned Abel Smith, on holiday on Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson's private Caribbean island, where they both survived a devastating fire. Winslet shares son Joe, 8, with American Beauty director Mendes, 47, plus daughter Mia, 12, with first husband Jim Threapleton.

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Winslet added of her unpredictable, inspiring life: "I have so much more material to draw on for work – rubble, bricks – and I know I can carry it now."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Kate Winslet Reflects on Divorce, Ned Rocknroll Marriage