Kate Winslet's 'Regime' is not a dictatorship — behind the scenes, at least

LONDON (AP) — Kate Winslet is running things — on and off the set of her new TV show, “The Regime.”

In the HBO show premiering Sunday, she plays Elena Vernham — also known as The Chancellor, the ruler of a fictional country in Europe, possibly near Poland. Winslet, who is also an executive producer on the show, says she's never been offered a character like this “in her life.”

“I’ve never read a script like this before. I’ve never laughed so much at the material that was in front of me, as we did every single day, and I really just felt this was an exciting, challenging, terrifying opportunity for me to step totally out of my comfort zone,” she says.

As the show’s worshipped leader, she came face to face with many huge artworks of herself.