Mare of Easttown: Kate Winslet reveals unlikely inspiration behind Mare

Actor plays detective Marianne ‘Mare’ Sheehan in the hit HBO miniseries

Kate Winslet has revealed the unlikely inspiration behind her character in Mare of Easttown.

In the hit HBO drama, which aired its final episode on Sunday, Winslet played Marianne “Mare” Sheehan, a detective investigating a murder in a small Pennsylvania town.

Speaking to The New York Times, Winslet said that she took inspiration for some of Mare’s physicality from her own father, Roger.

“My dad actually reminds me quite a lot of Mare, to be honest. He was slightly the inspiration,” she said.

“He basically moves like Mare and eats like Mare. Well, he does eat with his mouth full. We do tell him all the time, ‘Dad!' He's going to be so mad I just said that.”

In a five-star review for The Independent, Ed Cumming described the Mare of Easttown finale as “the ending the series deserves, a feat of poise and resolution that ties up its straggly ends without recourse to stunts or ex machina hi-jinks”.

When the final episode debuted in the US, viewers were made to wait to watch it as streaming service HBO Max, on which the show debuted, was hit by a technical error.

In the UK, Mare of Easttown can be watched on Sky and Now.