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“He didn’t particularly plan on meeting and marrying a woman who is in the public eye and therefore having been so judged,” shetoldThe New York Timesof her husband in 2021, adding, “He’s vegan, does yoga, breath work and cold water swims.”
Winslet even credits Smith for some her recent professional successes.
“My creative life in the last few years has been really, really, colorful for me,” she told PEOPLE in 2015. “And I’ve really really enjoyed being able to embrace that. I have a wonderful man in my life who is so incredibly supportive that makes it possible for me to have those experiences. It’s been a really fun time.”
So who is Kate Winslet’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Edward Abel Smith.
He met Winslet through his famous uncle
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Winslet and Smith met in August 2011 while they both vacationed on his uncleRichard Branson’sNecker Island— and a disaster brought them together. After a suspected lightning strike, amassive firebroke out at the Virgin mogul’s properties. Winslet helped Branson’s mother out of the main house on the island, while Smith escaped a neighboring home.
The actress compared the experience to what her andIdris Elba’s characters went through in the filmThe Mountain Between Us. “Exactly the same thing happened to me when I met my husband,” shetold PEOPLEin October 2017. “He was a complete stranger, we met, and then the next day the house burnt down.”
“I believe strangers can meet and their lives can change so much that they simply can’t go back to being the person they once were,” she added. “[Smith and I] very much went through that together. Even now, I often times find myself looking for an item of clothing or a book or something and I go, ‘Where have I put that?’ And Ned will look at me and go, ‘Did it get burnt in the fire?’ "
The incident also inspired the middle name of the couple’s son,Bear Blaze Winslet.
He was once famously — and legally — known as Ned Rocknroll
When Smith and Winslet met and first married, his name was legally Ned Rocknroll.
The Oscar winner added, “When he changed his name to Rocknroll, I don’t think he had anticipated what might happen if he should have a girlfriend whose name was Kate Winslet and who was quite well-known and therefore the press might kind of not react so well to the fact that she had this boyfriend named Rocknroll. So, it was a little tricky.”
So what prompted him to change it back? Winslet revealed, “I got to the point where I’m like, you know, I’m filling in doctors' forms and it says ‘mother’s name’ and ‘father’s name,’ and I’m like, ‘Honey … are we going to keep going?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’ll just change it back.’ So, he changed it back.”
He and Winslet married in secret
Kate Winslet and her husband.Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
In December 2012, Winslet and Smith tied the knot in an upstate New York wedding ceremony that was so secretive, not even their parents knew about it.
Winslet’sTitaniccostarLeonardo DiCaprioreportedly walked her down the aisle.
Winslet wasn’t keen on taking her new husband’s last name
The actress revealed in a2013 interview withThe Telegraphthat she never had any intention of changing her last name to Rocknroll after marrying Smith — but she wouldn’t have changed it to Smith, either.
“I was never going to change my name to Rocknroll. I’ve never changed my name to anything, so I didn’t see a reason to start now. I quite like Kate Winslet,” the Oscar winner, who was previously married to directors Jim Threapleton and Sam Mendes, said. She added jokingly, “In fact, I think it’s very flashy.”
Winslet explained that she wants to keep her “flashy” family name alive, which is why she and Smith gave their son,Bear Blaze Winslet, her last name.
“I’m one of three girls, and we have one boy in our family,” she said. “So essentially the only person who is going to carry the name along is my brother, and he doesn’t have any children at the moment.”
He took Winslet’s last name as a middle name
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Winsletrevealed in an interview withThe New York Timesthat part of Smith’s new name post-Rocknroll also included “Winslet.”
“He added ‘Winslet’ as one of his middle names, just simply because the children have Winslet,” she explained. “When we’re all traveling together, to all have that name on the passport makes life easier.”
He worked for Virgin Galactic
Before meeting Winslet, Smith worked for his famous uncle’s space initiative, Virgin Galactic. One of Smith’s firstpublic sightingswith Winslet was in October 2011, when the pair were photographed holding hands at the launch of Spaceport America in New Mexico.
He was the reason for Winslet’s self-described “appalling” speech at the 2011 Emmys
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Smith joined Winslet at the 2021Emmy Awards, where shetook home the trophy for outstanding actress in a limited series or moviefor the title role inMare of Easttown. It was a meaningful and winning night for Winslet in more ways than one.
“When I was here 10 years ago withMildred Piercewe had actually just met,” Winsletrecalled to reportersin the press room at the 2021 awards ceremony, speaking of Smith. “I knew that I was going to spend my life with this man.”
“We’re getting to the Emmys and I was just so in a whirlwind of having just met him that I couldn’t even concentrate,” she said. “And I vividly remember making an absolutely appalling speech because I was not on planet earth because I had fallen head over heels in love with this person who I just met. So to have him here, it’s really quite special.”
In her 2011 speech, Winslet expressed shock at the victory, thanking her costars, production team and crew on the HBO miniseries. She also profusely thanked her mother, saying, “This just means such a lot to me. I just wanted to say one thing also, which is that Mildred Pierce was capable of great acts as a mother but she was an extraordinary multitasker. And to that end, I actually do have to share this with my mum. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do in your life, you never stop needing your mum, and I’ll never stop needing mine. So thanks mum!”
He is now a stay-at-home dad
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Smith is now a full-time stay-at-home dad for his and Winslet’s 7-year-old son, Bear Blaze — and he also remains a devoted and doting husband to his Oscar-winning wife.
“He looks after us, especially me,” WinslettoldThe New York Timesin a May 2021 interview. “I said to him earlier, like, ‘Neddy, could you do something for me?’ He just went, ‘Anything.’ He is an absolutely extraordinary life partner.”
Winslet revealed that Smith even helps her run lines for her scripted projects, even though he has dyslexia.
“I’m so, so, so lucky,” she said. “For a man who is severely dyslexic, as he is, he’s great at testing me on lines. It’s so hard for him to read out loud, but he still does it.” Her sentiments echoed what she told WSJ. Magazineabout her husband in 2015. “Thank God for Ned — really,” she said. “He’s just so incredibly supportive, and he’s so much fun. He’s absolutely everything to me. And to all of us.”
source: people.com
