London | Oscar winner Kate Winslet says she chose to do smaller projects after the global success of "Titanic" as life became "quite unpleasant" with fame.

The 48-year-old star reflected on the media pressure and body image scrutiny she was subjected to after the release of James Cameron's 1997 romance-tragedy epic.

"I felt like I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant.

"Journalists would always say, 'After 'Titanic', you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things'… and I was like, 'Yeah, you bet your life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible'," Winslet told Porter magazine.

Despite the unpleasant aspects, "It's not a burden, any of it," she said.

"('Titanic') continues to bring people huge amounts of joy. The only time I am like, 'Oh God, hide,' is if we are on a boat somewhere," the actor quipped.

This is not the first time Winslet has talked about her popularity following "Titanic", which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

In 2021, she recalled going "into self-protective mode right away" after the film because she felt "bullied" by the UK media.