''Why I'll Never Sell My Private Life''

Kate Winslet bares all in her latest movie role but, when it comes to her family, she sets strict limits…

Kate Winslet starred in the most successful movie in history, but don't even think of calling her a movie star. ''People will ask me what it's like to be a movie star, but I find it a bit embarrassing - it's not how I've ever seen myself,'' says the 25-year-old UK actor who became a household name as Rose, the heroine in Titanic. ''To me, it's important to do my job well, to enjoy it and to leave with some great memories. I'm not concerned about taking long breaks or people forgetting who I am - that doesn't matter to me.''

The delightfully refreshing Kate won an Academy Award nomination for Titanic, and more recent critical acclaim for her pivotal role in the controversial movie Quills, starring Aussie actor Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, Joaquin Phoenix as a priest, and Michael Caine as a doctor sent in to stop the Marquis from smuggling his pornographic novels out into the world with the help of a smitten laundress, Kate.

The film is based on the true story of the Marquis, whose escapades during the 18^th century helped originate the term ''sadism''. Geoffrey Rush has been nominated for an Oscar for his role as the man depicted as both a monster and a little boy. Kate plays the virginal laundress Madeleine, who becomes close to the Marquis when they work together.

When TV Week met with the luminous brunette in London, she was radiant. Not because of the rave reviews for Quills, but thanks to another production that has overshadowed everything else - a daughter, Mia, born last October at a private hospital in London, with new dad, 27-year-old assistant director Jim Threapleton, on hand for her arrival. ''It totally transforms your world,'' Kate gushes, currently on a walk with Jim not far from the London hotel where she's holding court today. ''I already feel like a much calmer person and I'm not so desperate for a cigarette - giving up smoking was a big change for me. But this just feels like my most amazing production yet!''

Kate's whirlwind courtship that led to marriage and motherhood began shortly after the Titanic tidal wave hit her life. She accepted a role in the drama Hideous Kinky, a small-budget independent film shot in Morocco, and fell in love with Jim, whom she married in November, 1998. ''It was a bit awkward because I was the leading lady and he was the third assistant director and very conscious of doing his job properly,'' she says with a grin. ''But I didn't care about that. I just thought, 'He's the man for me' and I went for it!''

While her Titanic co-star Leonardo DiCaprio became a paparazzi obsession, Kate managed to hang onto a normal life by staying in London between movies and choosing low-profile roles away from Hollywood. ''After Titanic I wanted to do something that was at the other end of the spectrum,'' she explains, ''because I needed to reconfirm what it was that I loved about acting. There were thousands of people on the Titanic set so you couldn't remember any names, but I knew everyone on the set of Hideous Kinky. In the end, though, I choose a project because I love the script, the character, the director and the other actors.''

Kate also turned her back on lucrative offers to sell baby photos of Mia, as Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas did with their son Dylan. ''There's a fine line between satisfying the public's interest and selling your private life,'' says Kate, who released a photo of the new Threapleton family shortly after Mia's arrival at no charge to anyone. ''I find it sad that people feel the need to do that and, at the end of the day, you can only say, 'I hope they needed the money.' But my private life, no matter how poor I am, will always be the most important thing to me.''

The feisty star can't stay mad for long, however. Just ask her about the macho atmosphere on the set of Quills and she's laughing again. ''Phil [Kaufman, the director] would come up to me and say, 'You look like a painting,' and I'd tell him to get back behind the camera because I had a job to do,'' she giggles. ''I was lucky to be surrounded by men like Geoffrey, Phil, Michael and Joaquin who were paying me all these compliments, but I'd regularly say to Geoffrey, 'What are you looking at?' because he got a bit carried away with the Marquis' lecherous side at times and had to be told to stand in the corner!''

Quills opens March 1.