Kate Winslet Talks About Richard Branson House Fire

Last week Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, 35, was hailed a hero by billionaire Richard Branson, 61, for carrying his 90-year-old mother, Eve Branson, to safety during the house fire that engulfed his Necker Island mansion after it was struck by lightning in a storm caused by Hurricane Irene.

Winslet, along with several other friends, were guests at the lavish resort when the storm passed through in the middle of the night. Everyone, including Eve, Winslet, her model boyfriend Louis Dowler, and her two kids, Mia and Joe, escaped injury without incident, partly thanks to a disrobed Branson — who sleeps in the buff — rushing to the rescue from a neighboring guest house.

After everyone was safe, and Branson had (hopefully) dressed, Winslet spoke about the fire, praising the wisdom of her host. "I will never forget Richard placing his arms around both my children as we were watching the flames, and saying, 'At the end of the day, what you realize is that all that matters is the people that you love. Everything else is just stuff. And none of that stuff matters,'" Winslet quoted Branson to Entertainment Tonight.

As for her own take on the unfortunate incident, Winslet is "just glad that everyone is safe. This easily could not have been the case."

In another "heroic" effort to stand up to the ageism actresses face, Winslet is heading up what she calls the "British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League" with fellow British Oscar-winners Emma Thompson, 52, and Rachel Weisz, 41. "I will never give in," Winslet said, reports Us Weekly about going under the knife. "It goes against my morals, the way that my parents brought me up and what I consider to be natural beauty."