Winslet Hid Pregnancy Under Corsets

August 20, 2001 -- Even though her role in the World War II spy thriller Enigma didn't require Kate Winslet to wear a corset, the actress (who seems to specialize in period films) wore one anyway.

At the film's Sunday premiere at the Edinburgh film festival in Scotland, Winslet said she put on the restraining device to conceal her pregnancy.

"I just got so fat, so we used to strap everything in to make it not show. I was about six months pregnant by the end," she told reporters.

But the 25-year-old British actress said the look went well with her character, Hester, a dowdy code-breaker "who doesn't wear much makeup and also wears really dodgy glasses." Said Winslet, "She's quite boring, but she's a really good character and was a real challenge for me."

We're still consulting our English-to-American slang dictionary on this Kate quote, though: "I did look quite podgy, which kind of worked with a boffin."

At the premiere, a glammed-up Winslet, who gave birth to daughter Mia in October 2000, defied the chilly Scottish weather by wearing a slinky black dress and a denim jacket.

Hundreds of fans turned up in pouring rain to catch a glimpse of the stars but were disappointed that Mick Jagger, who produced the film, was a no-show.

Winslet praised his participation in the film, however, saying of the Rolling Stones frontman, "He was there with, like, everyone else with his Wellington boots on and really getting into it. He was great."

Enigma, which co-stars Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows, tells the real-life tale of the top-secret code-breaking unit set up by Britain to crack the Enigma cipher used by German U-boats, the same gizmo sought by the American forces in the sub drama U-571. Earlier this year, Enigma played the Sundance film festival.

Reuters contributed to this story.