Kate Winslet On Directorial Debut Goodbye June From 22-Year-Old Son's Script: Could Not Be Prouder

As

she turned 50, Kate Winslet added a new title to her career, that of film director. The Oscar and Emmy winner's directorial debut, Goodbye June, will premiere on Netflix on December 24. It will also release in select US and UK theatres on December 12. The emotional drama is a family affair for Winslet. Her son, Joe Anders, has written the script and based it on his grandmother's (Kate's mother) death. Winslet shared why she was finally ready to take up direction.

Kate Winslet on why she chose her son's script for her directorial debut

On the Screen Talk podcast, Winslet spoke about working with her older son, Joe Anders, for her directorial debut, Goodbye June. Joe's father is Winslet's ex-husband, Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes. Anders, who studied screenwriting at the National Film and Television School, based his screenplay for Goodbye June on the death of his grandmother in 2017. He is also an actor with upcoming projects on the series Cape Fear and East of Eden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIDoYSWCuzQ

Winslet shared, "[Joe's] about to turn 22 years old. He has read many a script. He has practiced lines with me time and time again… He invented this fictional story and this fictional family that you see in Goodbye June. So when I first read the script, it was incredibly funny, touching, moving. It had all the hallmarks of a great screenplay." ALSO READ: 5 Things To Know About Kate Winslet’s Directorial Debut Goodbye June On NetflixShe continued “He spent the next year after that, until he was 20, working on various drafts of the script, and it was ready to go. And I said, ‘Do you think that I could maybe direct it?’ Because I felt so close to the material at that point, and I also did feel ready, and I’m just not someone who does anything by half. I knew that I couldn’t step into that role unless I felt emotionally brave enough, strong enough, prepared enough, technically aware, enough of what it was going to take. And I did it in the 50th year of my life, and I could not be prouder. Having spent so many years advocating for women getting into male-dominated spaces in this industry, I thought, ‘You know what? If I don’t do this now, maybe I never will, and if I don’t do it, how am I actively contributing to changing the culture?’ For that reason alone, if I never direct again, I did it."

More about Goodbye June

The Netflix film assembles a starry cast, including Winslet, as an estranged family comes together for the death of the matriarch, played by Helen Mirren, around Christmas time. The rest of the ensemble cast features Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Flynn, Timothy Spall, and Toni Collette.