Brit actress Kate Winslet has been named the best international actress at this year’s Bambi Awards in Germany.

Winslet, 34, had been awarded the prize for her role in The Reader, in which she had played a German woman with a secret Nazi past.

“Ever since we made The Reader I’m always trying to find ways to come back - it was special,” said Winslet, who shot the movie in Germany.

The actress struggled to hold up the solid bronze and 18-carat gold trophy she was presented with at the ceremony.

“This is very heavy, so I’m going to put this down,” she laughingly added.

The annual Bambi Awards acknowledge achievement in film, television, music and sports, and the panel praised her as “an actress who doesn’t just slip into her roles but rather puts herself into the soul of her roles”.

Three cheers for Kate Winslet, Hip hip Hurray!