Kate Winslet says Goodbye June crew were underpaid due to budget constraints tied to sexism in the industry

Kate Winslet says the crew on her directorial debut Goodbye June were underpaid because she could not secure a big enough budget, a situation she ties to sexism in the film industry. The Titanic star, 50, told Kermode & Mayo's Take that being a woman director often forces her to call in favors to get a project made, which can lead some department heads and their crews to work for less than their weekly rate. The comments arrive as Winslet reflects on her Netflix debut, a family drama that marks her first time behind the camera and has drawn attention to the hurdles women face when moving from acting to directing.

On the podcast, Winslet elaborated that a reduced budget means people “take a hit” to support the project, emphasizing that the squeeze can fall on the people who actually make the film run. "When you're a woman, you do a huge amount of ringing around and calling in favours so sometimes with a budget like Goodbye June you might be asking people to come and work for less than their weekly rate," she said. "I'm talking about department heads and their crew. Sometimes people take a little bit of a hit because they want to come and be part of that experience and they want to support you and we did have that on Goodbye June." The actor-director added that female directors are often underestimated, while men are more readily presumed capable of directing. "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 it's not fair because what it does mean is that it will be harder for us to get films made, harder for us to get the kind of budgets that we need to make those films." She also described a cultural double standard: while some male actors-turned-directors are welcomed with curiosity, women in the same position are sometimes perceived as overreaching or vain. "People just think you're a little bit too vain and want to stay in your trailer all day, and 'will you really do it well?'" Winslet said. The remarks spotlight a broader debate over gender bias in film financing and leadership roles that many industry observers say persists despite progress in the field.

Goodbye June is a Netflix family drama that places Winslet in the director’s chair for the first time. The titular character, June, is played by Helen Mirren, with Timothy Spall as her husband Bernie, and Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough, and Johnny Flynn among Winslet’s on-screen children. The project follows four siblings who come together to support their mother as her health declines. The screenplay was written by Winslet’s son, Joe Anders, 21, and the film landed on the streaming platform last week. The project represents a personal moment for Winslet, who has spoken openly about her late mother, Sally Bridges-Winslet, who died of ovarian cancer in 2017; the film’s thematic resonance has touched Winslet in ways she described during interviews and public appearances.

For Winslet, stepping behind the camera required managing fatigue and pressure without letting cast or crew sense her worries. She told Grazia magazine that the hardest part was leaving concerns at the door so that the actors never felt them. "It was up to me to set the tone every single day, even if I was knackered or worried about the budget." The director also acknowledged a lingering awareness of how female directors are perceived, noting that her experience differed from that of male actors who become directors, who are often given more room to improvise or take stakes on faith rather than scrutinizing the initial budget in the same way. Despite the obstacles, Winslet said she would "really, really love to direct again" and described continuing to pursue directing projects as a vital part of her artistic life.

As part of a recent Q&A for the film, Winslet shared another candid moment about the director’s journey. Asked about her best note for an actor, she quipped that the note is universal: "Don't f*** it up." The remark drew laughter from the audience and underscored her pragmatic approach to directing as she balances creative ambition with the practical realities of cinema. While acknowledging the structural challenges faced by women in the industry, Winslet’s remarks also signal a continued ambition to push for more opportunities to tell stories on screen, with a broader hope that budgets and creative support will align more equitably in the future.