Kate Winslet reveals reason Goodbye June crew were ‘underpaid’

Kate Winslet has claimed some of the crew on her directorial debut Goodbye June were underpaid.

The Titanic actress, 50, claimed being a female director meant she was forced to call in favours to get the film made as people wouldn’t invest.

Winslet called out sexism within the industry while trying to navigate a tight budget on the film, which is written by her son Joe Anders, 21.

This meant that some crew who wanted to work on the film had to take less than their weekly rate to work on it, she explained.

Appearing on Kermode & Mayo’s Take podcast, Kate said: ‘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. 

‘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.’

Winslet added that there’s an automatic assumption that female directors ‘don’t know what they’re doing’.

‘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,’ she said.

‘That’s not right and actually 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 continued: ‘But actually, I just think there’s this very strange thing with women, especially when you’re an actress who transitions into directing people. 

‘People just think that you’re a little bit too vain and want to stay in your trailer all day, and “will you really do it well?”‘

Winslet added that there’s a ‘different language’ that’s used when addressing female directors compared to male directors.

‘It’s a different set of language that is used talking to actresses who become directors as opposed to male actors who become directors. 

‘Strangely with male actors – and this is absolutely no criticism of them at all because when I think about the brilliant young actors in this country who have been directing recently it’s incredibly exciting – but they’re just allowed to get on with it.’

The actress has been vocal about the importance of women being happy with the way they naturally look, after facing years of abuse for her looks in the 90s.

After appearing in Titanic, the star was endlessly criticised and ‘relentlessly bullied’ as she soared to fame.

In an interview with The Times, Kate spoke about how this time in her life shaped her resolve to buck trends when it comes to plastic surgery.

This treatment led the actress to campaign for natural beauty, but said that she feels her voice might be lost in the modern era.

‘But I feel like nobody cares any more. No one’s listening because they’ve become obsessed with chasing an idea of perfection to get more likes on Instagram. It upsets me so much,’ she said.

She added that she felt the trend was ‘terrifying’ and seeing more stars get surgery scared her: ‘Oh, it’s terrifying. I think no, “Not you! Why?”‘

‘It is devastating,’ she added. ‘If a person’s self-esteem is so bound up in how they look it’s frightening. And it’s puzzling because I have moments when I think it’s better, when I look at actresses at events dressed how they want, whichever shape — but then so many people are on weight-loss drugs. It’s so varied.

‘Some are making choices to be themselves, others do everything they can to not be themselves. And do they know what they are putting in? The disregard for one’s health is terrifying. It bothers me now more than ever. It is f*****g chaos out there.’

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