Kate Winslet recently said 'on some level Woody is a woman' because Woody Allen writes female characters so well

Kate Winslet praised "Wonder Wheel" director Woody Allen's ability to craft female characters.
Winslet joked that she thought that "on some level Woody is a woman."
The actress has faced a backlash for defending her decision to work with Allen, including from Allen's adopted daughter Dylan Farrow.
Allen has been accused of sexually abusing Dylan Farrow when she was seven. He has denied it.

Late last month, Kate Winslet gave director Woody Allen a unique compliment in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, and it has surfaced again after the publication of an op-ed by Allen's adopted daughter, who criticized Winslet by name for continuing to work with him.

Winslet, who stars in the new Allen-directed film "Wonder Wheel," joked that she thinks that "on some level Woody is a woman," while praising his ability to craft "rich" female characters.

"I just think he’s very in touch with that side of himself,” Winslet told the Herald. “He understands the female characters he creates exceptionally well. His female characters are always so rich and large and honest in terms of how they’re feeling and he just knows how to write dialogue for them to communicate all that.”

In an op-ed published Thursday by The Los Angeles Times, Dylan Farrow called out Winslet for working with Allen, and for ducking questions regarding the allegations against him. Dylan Farrow has accused Allen of sexually abusing her when she was seven years old. He has denied it.

"In this deliberately created fog, A-list actors agree to appear in Allen’s films and journalists tend to avoid the subject," Farrow wrote.

Farrow then juxtaposed Winslet's comments praising Harvey Weinstein's alleged victims with her comments defending her decision to work with Allen.

Here's the quote from Farrow's piece:

"Discussing Weinstein, 'Wonder Wheel' star Kate Winslet said, 'The fact that these women are starting to speak out about the gross misconduct of one of our most important and well-regarded film producers, is incredibly brave and has been deeply shocking to hear.' Of Allen, she said 'I didn’t know Woody and I don’t know anything about that family. As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false. Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director.'"

Winslet received a lot of backlash on social media for defending her decision to work with Allen on "Wonder Wheel" in an interview with The New York Times (specifically the quote used by Farrow in her op-ed). Since then, Winslet has declined to comment any further on the allegations against him.

Winslet was not immediately available to comment on Farrow's op-ed or her interview with the Herald.