Kate Winslet said she was regularly passed over for stage roles as a teenager because she was "too fat" and her feet "were the wrong size," British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
The Oscar-winning actress spoke of her physical shortcomings while on a surprise visit to a children's theater company that nurtured her acting talents.
Though not in the limelight at the Starmaker Theatre Company in Reading, southern England, Winslet told young actors there that she was a boisterous member of the chorus and took part in 20 productions.
But she added that she reveled in lead roles in the musicals "Annie," "The Jungle Book" and "Bugsy Malone."
She encouraged aspiring young thespians at the stage school to never give up on their dream, reminding them that "anything was possible."
Winslet combined her early years at Starmaker with a full-time education at Redroofs Theatre School, in nearby Maidenhead.