Kate Winslet Faces Resistance from Her Son Over Turning His School Project into a Movie
Joe Anders and Kate Winslet at the New York screening of ‘Goodbye June’ on Dec. 8.
Credit:
Stephanie Augello/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut with family drama Goodbye June, written by her son Joe Anders
- Winslet recalls to PEOPLE what she told Anders after reading his screenplay, which he had written for a school assignment
- Goodbye June is in theaters Dec. 12 and streaming on Netflix Dec. 24
Kate Winslet and her son Joe Anders have transformed a school assignment into a feature film with their latest project, Goodbye June.
In her directorial debut, Winslet, 50, brings to life a script crafted by her 21-year-old son for his screenwriting class. Speaking at the film’s screening on December 8 in New York City, Winslet disclosed that Anders initially hesitated about its progression to the big screen.
“I just read it and said to him, ‘You’ve written a screenplay,’” Winslet recalled. “He was like, ‘No, mom, it’s not that. It’s an assignment that I was set in my screenwriting course. You don’t have to do that. You don’t have to make me feel good about this thing that I was just trying to do to see if I could write something.’”
Helen Mirren and Kate Winslet in ‘Goodbye June’.
Kimberley French/Netflix
Despite Anders’ initial reluctance, Winslet recognized the merit of his work. “I’m really sorry. We’re going to be making it into a film,” she recounts telling him. “He’s like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Goodbye June features an ensemble cast including Winslet, Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, and Helen Mirren. The narrative unfolds during Christmas, where an unexpected turn in the mother’s health complicates family dynamics as four adult siblings and their father navigate the chaos that ensues.
(Left-right:) Andrea Riseborough, Kate Winslet, Joe Anders, Timothy Spall, Toni Collette and Kate Solomon at the New York screening of ‘Goodbye June’ on Dec. 8.
Dia Dipasupil/WireImage
As described by the official synopsis, Mirren’s character orchestrates her decline with “biting humor, blunt honesty, and a lot of love.”
Reflecting on this milestone, Winslet noted, “even if I never, ever get to do it again in my whole career, I did this at this time in my life when I was really ready to do it… I feel really proud of us and I feel really proud of the film.”
(Left-right:) Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, Kate Winslet and more in ‘Goodbye June’.
Kimberley French/Netflix
Winslet has previously teamed up with her daughter, Mia Threapleton, in the 2022 TV drama I Am Ruth. Praising both Threapleton and Anders as “extremely talented,” Winslet remarked, “actually, neither of them really have an awareness of that at all. They’re very humble. They just love the job, they love the work, and they know that they’ve been really fortunate to have worked with extraordinary people from whom they’ve already learned a lot.”
Goodbye June will be available in theaters starting December 12 and will stream on Netflix beginning December 24. Winslet will also star in James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, set for release on December 19.
