Kate Winslet: I had a panic attack before the Oscars

Kate Winslet has revealed she had a panic attack before the Academy Awards on Sunday.

The Revolutionary Road star was nominated in the Best Actress category for her performance in The Reader - and after five previous unsuccessful nominations, she was nervous about how the big night would go.

She told Time magazine: “I didn’t know what it was. It was a little like when your water [breaks], and you think, ‘Did I just pee a bit, or is this it?’

“I called my sister and said, ‘I can’t breathe, and I feel like I’ve got a brick on my chest and I’m seeing funny, and it sounds like everyone’s talking to me in Hebrew.’

“She said, ‘Yeah, that’s a panic attack.’”

The actress calmed down by the time she reached the ceremony but said it was equally surreal when she was called to the stage to accept the trophy: “[It was] an out-of-body experience. You just think, ‘This can’t be happening.’”