Winslet stars in TV weepie

It was a performance worthy of an Oscar or, indeed, worthy even of an acceptance speech.

In true gushing Hollywood style, Kate Winslet shed tears of pure emotion and love for her man - on TV.

The Titanic star cried enough to sink her own ship when asked about her husband, director Sam Mendes, and their new baby, Joe.

She wiped away tears and apologised for being so emotional on the US Bravo channel's programme Inside The Actor's Studio.

Winslet, who recorded the interview weeks after giving birth in December, started crying as she told of her love for Mendes. 'I had a baby. His father is Sam Mendes. He is wonderful.

'I will start crying in a minute because I'm so emotional because we just had the baby,' she said. 'He is really wonderful and this is an amazingly emotional time and I see him being a wonderful father.'

Then, as she recovered her composure, Winslet jokingly asked host James Liptin for a stiff drink.

'Excuse me. I'm very, very happy right now. Oh God, have you got any gin? He's a wonderful, wonderful man.'

The interviewer later read excerpts from a diary Winslet kept while filming Titanic, which revealed her lack of self-confidence. After she claimed the diary was locked away in a safe, the 28-year-old looked stunned as the host read: 'I'm very tired, I need to get some sleep. I feel ugly, talentless and uncommitted, frightened, lonely, nervous, mad, and we haven't started shooting yet.

'If it's not rehearsals it's weight training, if it's not etiquette, it's voice coaching, by the end of this film if it's not suicide it will be the asylum.'