Kate Winslet earns praise after describing convenience store Wawa as ‘mythical’

‘I still feel this way walking into Wawa,’ one fan agrees

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Saturday 08 May 2021 17:46 BST
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(Getty/Stock)

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People are sharing their appreciation over Kate Winslet’s description of the convenience store Wawa after she described it as a “mythical” place.

The actress opened up about her experiences with Wawa during an episode of the Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope podcast, where she was asked how she connected with her role in HBO’s Mare of Easttown.

According to Winslet, who plays a detective in a small town in Pennsylvania, she began to prepare for the role by subscribing to the local newspaper, which is where she first began to see articles about Wawa.

After saturating herself in the culture of the chain convenience stores and occasional gas stations, Winslet admitted that it felt to her like a “mythical place” and that stepping foot in her first Wawa almost felt like an “honour”.

“It almost felt like a mythical place …  Wawa,” Winslet said. “And so, by the time I got there, I was like: ‘It’s real!’

“Walking into Wawa, it ultimately felt, it was kind of an honour, in a funny way … because to me that was the heart of DelCo. So to finally walk through the door of a Wawa, I don’t know why I felt like: ‘Oh, yes, I’m here, I belong. This is where it’s at. Wawa.’”

As for the “must-gets” at Wawa, the Titanic star revealed that she would only ever get coffee at the convenience store locations scattered around the East Coast, but that she did “just like hanging out in there”.

However, she did admit that her co-star Evan Peters was more of a fan of the store’s offerings, revealing that the actor enjoyed Wawa’s hoagies.

“He would say: ‘Ugh, you gotta try the Gobbler,’” Winslet recalled. “And it was this gigantic sub, basically – or hoagie, this huge hoagie. It’s basically a Thanksgiving meal in a hoagie.

“He was like: ‘Oh, yeah, I just eat that thing and I pass out.’ And I’d be like: ‘I’m not surprised! I’m not surprised, Evan!’”

The star’s appreciation for the convenience store was met with approval on social media, with Wawa trending on Twitter with more than 16,000 tweets following the actress’s comments.

“This is 100 per cent the appropriate reaction to your first Wawa experience,” one person tweeted.

Another said: “Kate Winslet is right. Wawa is the greatest and best store in America. All others pale in comparison.”

The comments even prompted a response from the store’s official Twitter account, which quoted Winslet’s description and added: “Who’s grabbing a coffee before next show?” alongside a photo of the star.

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