Kate Winslet Reveals How Her Son’s School Project Transformed Into Her Directorial Debut

Kate Winslet is opening up about how her son’s project at screenwriting school led to her directing her very first movie, Goodbye June. The actress has starred in movies and shows like Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Holiday, Mare of Easttown, Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming films Avatar: Fire and Ash and Goodbye June.

Aside from the new Avatar blockbuster, Winslet has another new movie called Goodbye June, which she not only stars in but also directed, with a screenplay written by none other than her son, Joe Anders. While promoting the Netflix film, she explained to Screen Rant‘s Liam Crowley what led to her finally making her directorial debut.

Anders is an actor who has starred in films like 1917, Lee, Bonus Track and I Am Ruth. Now he’s added screenwriter to his resume.

According to his mother, this new journey all started when he was accepted into a screenwriting school after writing a short film. “We were just honestly so proud of him that he had achieved that,” Winslet exclaimed.

So my son Joe, he’s had actually really just interesting journey because my daughter Mia, had started acting and because she has never had my surname and also doesn’t have any kind of social media, when she started getting her few early roles, nobody made the connection at all. So she slipped completely under the radar and was able to hold her own. Same goes with when she worked with Wes, actually, he just thought that she was this young girl called Mia, who he’d never seen before. And so my son, Joe, he was thinking about going into acting and he had played a few roles in some smaller things, but he’s always been a very passionate writer and it’s been a huge part of his creativity. So after COVID, he kind of plucked up the courage, wrote a short film, and he applied to screenwriting school and was given a place and we were just honestly so proud of him that he had achieved that.

Her son then wrote a screenplay over a period of six months, which was “intensive.” Afterwards, he went to his mother and mentioned that he “sort of” wanted her to read his script.

As Winslet explained it, Anders was “trying to talk himself out of letting me read it.” Instead, Winslet read through the script and realized that he “really could write.” The characters he had created were “fully formed” and the dialogue was “extraordinary” and “so natural.“

And then for this intensive six months, he was writing a screenplay. He didn’t tell me what it was about and at the end he said to me, ‘Oh mum, I’ve written this thing and I mean, I want you to sort of want read it, but I kind of don’t want you to read it because it’s just the first draft and I haven’t actually completely finished it yet and it’s probably-‘ I’m like, ‘Stop.’ He was trying to talk himself out of letting me read it and I was like, ‘Give it to me. Give me the script.’ So he handed it to me and of course I read it and immediately I could see, oh, he can write, but he really could write. His characters were completely fully formed. The dialogue was extraordinary. That was the standout thing, and the dialogue was so natural, I just wanted to be saying it. As I’m reading the script, I’m reading out loud all of these parts.

Even though Anders’ script was merely a project for school, Winslet was adamant that it should be turned into a movie, and she wanted to help make it happen. Initially, she had only signed on as a producer and to play the role of Julia.

Actress Andrea Riseborough found out about the script and wanted to play Molly. Winslet said, “I’ve got to play Julie because to miss out on that head-to-head with [Riseborough] would’ve been foolish.”

And so I said to him, ‘Well, you’ve written a film and we’re going to make it.’ And he’s like, ‘What are you talking about? It’s just an assignment, mom. I just did it because that was what was asked of us and I wanted to see if I could,’ and so then cut to a couple of drafts later when he’d completed it, he still had about another 20 pages to go and it was in such good shape and I was going to produce it and play one of the sisters. Andrea Riseborough had also read it. I’d kind of slipped it to her because she was like, ‘What’s Joe up to at the moment?’ I said, ‘Actually, he’s written a screenplay.’ She’s like, ‘Oh!’ And she had wanted to play Molly, and I thought, well, I’ve got to play Julia, because to miss out on that head to head with her would’ve been foolish.

Eventually, the script was sent out to various directors since Winslet said she “just couldn’t” direct the movie. She didn’t want to risk letting this project get away from them, which led to the Titanic and Avatar actress helming the movie instead, which was a first in her career.

Winslet added that even if she never gets the chance to direct another film again, “this has been such an extraordinary experience” and she’s “loved every second.”

She admitted it was a “fulfilling and uplifting and rewarding” journey from start to finish. When she signed on as the director, she made sure the environment had a different “rhythm” to it, including fewer crew members on set and setting up a distraction-free zone that allowed her to support the cast in the best way she could.

And then it came to the point of sending it to directors and I just couldn’t do it. I just said, ‘Joe, we can’t let this go. We can’t give it away. It’s so gorgeous. I don’t want for you to miss out on the experience of seeing this story in these characters come to life in the hands of these wishlist actors who all said yes.’ And so that’s how it came about that I directed it. And I just feel like even if I never ever get to do it again in my life, this has been such an extraordinary experience. I’ve loved every second. I never wanted it to finish. Being able to be across everything from the beginning, middle to right to the end, delivering it as I literally feel like I just did about a month ago. And so it’s just been so fulfilling and uplifting and rewarding and crafting relationships with those actors and supporting them and giving them an environment that was a little bit different in terms of the day-to-day rhythm, having less crew on set, a great supportive crew who really helped me to shape an environment that was all about the actors and very free of distraction.

The end result is a movie called Goodbye June, which has already been released in select theaters ahead of its Christmas Eve Netflix premiere. Aside from Winslet and Riseborough, the film also stars Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, Helen Mirren, Stephen Merchant, Fisayo Akinade , Jeremy Swift, Raza Jaffrey and Benjamin Shortland.

Goodbye June, which currently has a 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes, tells the story of a mother battling a terminal illness at Christmastime, which leads to her children coming together, dealing with grief and resolving lingering issues in the family.

The entertainment industry has become a family affair for Winslet, as her actor son dives into screenwriting and her daughter Mia Threapleton continues her acting career. Winslet has starred in iconic films like Titanic and won numerous awards, including an Oscar. Now, due to Anders’ school project, she can add director to her list of accomplishments.

Goodbye June will be released on Netflix on December 24, 2025.