Kate Winslet said she had to direct her latest film, Goodbye June, because she knew she would "regret" missing out on it.
The 50-year-old also stars in the Christmas movie, which was written by her son Joe Anders and follows four siblings whose lives change when their mother's health takes a turn for the worse during the festive period.
Speaking on an episode of the Kermode & Mayo’s Take podcast, the Hollywood star expressed her pride in the new film, and said when her son approached her with the script, she "couldn’t let it go".
She said: "Joe had written this script and actually he still had about 20 to 25 pages to go to finish it.
"I said: 'Look, just finish it and let’s have another conversation because I think this could be a film, Joe, really, I do'."
Goodbye June is the screenplay debut of Winslet’s 21-year-old son.
Winslet praised her son’s work, and said: "I just have to be honest really and truly, he knew what he was doing.
"He just does have an understanding of film and of characters and he’s always been a very observant person."
The film is also a first for the Hollywood star, marking her directorial debut.
She said: "After about a year of further development and various different iterations of the script and redrafting certain things, there was a screenplay that was ready to be sent out to directors and Netflix had shown some interest in it.
"I suddenly realised I couldn’t let it go.
"I just thought: If I never do this again, if this is the only moment in my life I direct a film, I know I’d regret it if it wasn’t this one."
She added: "I feel so proud that I have done it now, and done it at a time that I think the film industry is struggling."
Winslet also mentioned challenges she faced in her new role, saying she felt there was a "very strange" attitude towards her as an actress taking on the role of a director.
She said: "I think there’s a different language that is used when addressing female directors to male directors.
"With male actors – and this is absolutely no criticism of them at all – it’s somehow there’s this societal assumption that they will automatically know what they’re doing, whereas the same assumption is not made of women.
"That’s not right and actually it’s not fair."
Winslet is best known for her roles in films such as James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), and festive feature, The Holiday (2006).
The film, which was inspired by the death of Winslet’s mother, also stars Helen Mirren, Timothy Spall, Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Flynn, Stephen Merchant and Toni Collette.
Goodbye June is available to watch in Irish cinemas, and will be available on streaming platform Netflix on Christmas Eve.
Source: Press Association
