Those who know Kate Winslet say she is feeling positive and happy about life as the dust settles following her split from Sam Mendes. Indeed, the Oscar-winning star was radiating vitality as she filmed a watch commercial in Rome with Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai, and Chinese actress and model Lin Chi-ling. Part of Kate's inner contentment can be attributed to the fact that things are moving ahead smoothly with the legal aspects of her divorce.
Meanwhile, she and her estranged husband have found a way to continue their joint parenting without constantly having to cross paths, reports the Daily Mail. Her recent routine has been to leave their former marital home in New York each morning to go and film a TV adaptation of the James M Cain novel Mildred Pierce. After she has driven away, American Beauty director Sam will arrive at the apartment to take Mia – Kate's daughter with her first husband Jim Threapleton – and their son Joe to school. He then uses a different apartment in the same block as his office and leaves before Kate returns home. She'll usually pick the kids up from school on the way. The screen talent is said to be taking her career in a new direction at the moment.
As well as her first TV work in recent years she's signed up to star in a romantic comedy with The Hangover actor Bradley Cooper. Thirty-four-year-old Kate will play his love interest in Which Brings Me To You, a big-screen adaptation of a chick-lit novel centred on two would-be lovers toying with the idea of settling down. Although she's pushing ahead on the work front, The Reader actress' main priority remains her children.
Soon she will spend a few weeks with them at the Gloucestershire Grade II listed property she and Sam bought near the start of their seven-year marriage. Her estranged husband will also be there with the children separately for a few weeks, though they will apparently both be there at the same time during a handover period. Contrary to some media reports, the former couple do not plan to use this time together to try and save their marriage. Far from a reconciliation, it's been rumoured that Sam already has a new lady in his life.
British actress Rebecca Hall – with whom the director has a close friendship – has denied any romance, however, saying: "He's a good mate."