Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut with script written by her 21-year-old son
Written by her son Joe Anders, the movie was inspired by the death of 50-year-old Winslet's mother.
Actress Kate Winslet said she couldn't miss out on directing her latest film, Goodbye June, over fears she would "regret" missing out.
Listen to this article
The film follows four siblings whose lives change after their mother suffers poor health during the Christmas season.
Written by her son Joe Anders, the movie was inspired by the death of Ms Winslet's own mother.
The 50-year-old actress, who also stars in the film, expressed her pride in the project, saying she "couldn't let [the script] go" from the moment her son approached her with it.
"Joe had written this script and actually he still had about 20 to 25 pages to go to finish it.
"I said: Look, just finish it and let's have another conversation because I think this could be a film, Joe, really, I do."
The project marks the actress' directorial debut, as well as her 21-year-old son's debut screenplay.
"I just thought: If I never do this again, if this is the only moment in my life I direct a film, I know I'd regret it if it wasn't this one."
The film also stars Dame Helen Mirren, Timothy Spall, Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Flynn, Stephen Merchant and Toni Collette.
Speaking about her experience, the actress noted that she felt there was a "very strange" attitude towards her as an actress taking on the role of a director.
"I think there's a different language that is used when addressing female directors to male directors.
"With male actors - and this is absolutely no criticism of them at all - 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.
"That's not right and actually it's not fair."
Winslet is best known for her roles in films such as James Cameron's Titanic (1997), and festive feature, The Holiday (2006).
Goodbye June is available to watch in UK cinemas, and will be available on streaming platform Netflix on Christmas Eve.