Kate Winslet Plans a ‘Quiet’ 49th Birthday (Exclusive)

Kate Winslet isn’t throwing a party of gigantic proportions when she turns 49 on October 5th.

When PEOPLE asked how she planned to celebrate, the Oscar winner responded, “Well, it’s going to be quiet. I like to keep things small.”

She too will celebrate her big 50th birthday in 2025 without much fanfare, she said Harper’s Bazaar in August. “I don’t like big parties and I can’t stand surprises,” Winslet said.

“I want to spend the year doing 50 remarkable things, whether it’s a specific hike I’ve never done before or a place I’ve never been, acts of kindness – I’m putting together a little list,” added Adds Winslet, who shares son Bear, 10, with her husband Edward Abel Smith, 46, a former Virgin Galactic executive; son Joe, 20, with ex-husband Sam Mendes; and daughter Mia, 23, with ex Jim Threapleton.

Regardless, Winslet has a lot to celebrate these days. She was a producer and star in the new film leea film about pioneering model photographer turned photographer during World War II, Lee Miller. It took nearly a decade to bring the story to the screen, something she’s particularly proud of given the obstacles she faced.

As Winslet set about securing funding lee“I encountered men who said to me, ‘Why should I like this woman?’ I mean, just ridiculous things,” Winslet tells PEOPLE.

Admittedly, she sometimes wondered if the film would ever happen. “’Oh my God, how is this ever going to happen? How am I supposed to move on?’” she says, she thought.

But Winslet, with the help of Miller’s son Antony Penrose and producing partner Kate Solomon, actually went ahead and made the film, which is now in theaters.

Looking back on her entire Hollywood career, which began three decades ago when she starred in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Celestial creaturesWinslet can’t believe what she’s accomplished.

“I’m extremely proud of the things I’ve accomplished,” says the seven-time Oscar nominee, who won the Oscar in 2008 The reader.

“And being able to say that I’m proud of myself is important because I think that’s something else I want to express – that women should be able to stand with pride and acknowledge that, and shouldn’t feel like they’re outdoing themselves,” she continues.

“It’s a self-acceptance and awareness of doing something that is challenging, feels impactful, and requires an effort you wouldn’t believe,” she says.

lee is now in the cinema.