Kate Winslet, throughout the years, has made herself undeniable in world cinema with her body of work. The "Titanic", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Wonder Wheel" star made her directorial debut this December with family drama "Goodbye June". Written by her son, Joe Anders, the story traces the final days of an ailing woman (played by Helen Mirren), as her family comes together to bid farewell around Christmas.
The film is set to release on Netflix soon.
She also stars in the film as one of June's daughters, Julie, who is the busiest and the most financially responsible of the four siblings. The source of conflict between the characters and their individual backgrounds may not have been fleshed out in the film but what the film elaborately deals with is their concerted efforts to make June's passing comfortable and memorable.
Before its Netflix release on December 24, the "Titanic" star shared her experience of working with her screenwriter son in this exclusive one-on-one interview with The Daily Star.
The Daily Star: Let me start by saying you are incredibly loved here in Bangladesh.
Kate Winslet: Thank you very much.
TDS: You said when your son was writing the script, you thought it would make a great movie. Was there any particular scene or dialogue that spoke to you when you first read it?
KW: I think the thing that spoke to me most of all was actually how real all of the characters felt. I felt they were extremely relatable. I think some of the quieter scenes between Bernie and June I found to be particularly touching because I lost my mother, but I was never in the room when my own parents were having those quiet conversations between themselves. I found those scenes probably to be among the most touching of all.
"Goodbye June" is really a film about a family and it's also a film about life and love and how a family comes together because they're losing their mother.
TDS: Having the writer on set can be a source of helpful notes or creative conflict. How was it for you having your son on-set?
KW: Honestly, it was wonderful. I loved it so much. We only had seven weeks to shoot this film and I only had Helen Mirren for 16 days. So, it was quite nerve wrecking because I had to get everything done. For the first three weeks of the shoot, my son was actually overseas working on something as an actor because he is also an actor.
He has fantastic opinions and really great taste. He's very interested in the filmmaking process and wants to learn and wants to be able to grow as a writer and grow as an actor. So, for him being around and all of that, I think it was very educational, quite honestly.
We're very lucky because we do have a very close relationship. But it was special to work with him in a different way, as colleagues, you know, on equal playing fields. He was a first-time writer, I was a first time director. So, it did mean that we had each other in those moments when we're like, "Oh my God. Ok. What's next? Let's (do this). It's gonna be great." Sometimes you've just got to have a positive attitude and you just keep going.
TDS: Your son found the inspiration to write this film from watching the family come together when his grandmother passed away. So, were there parts of the film that were autobiographical?
KW: No. It isn't an autobiographical story. It is a fictional family and it's a fictional set of circumstances and yes it is accurate that my own family were able to come together, but how geographically almost impossible that was was remarkable and my son was a teenager at the time and everyone felt it. Everyone was a part of going through this loss and how we were all there for her because we all loved her and we all came from this one woman. So, he took that as his emotional backdrop and then invented his own story from there.
Also, when talking with his peers about loss and whether they themselves had lost a grandparent or even lost a parent in some cases, he realized very quickly that there's so many people that weren't there. Maybe it wasn't a good goodbye and for some people, they had regrets and there were things they wished they had said.
We have a big, big family on his mother's side, me, but also on his father's side, there's a huge family too. So, he drew from many different stories that he was aware of and created this particular story in which a family all come together against all odds and make it good for the woman who's passing away.
Kate Winslet during the zoom interview with our correspondent
Sadia Khalid Reeti is a film critic and screenwriter. She served as a Fipresci jury at the Cannes Film Festival and is a voter for the Golden Globes.
