Kate Winslet Reflects on Filming ‘Blackbird’ While Grieving Mother’s Death
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A poignant exploration of grief and the subconscious motivations of artists, Kate Winslet has revealed she likely wasn’t in the right emotional state to star in the 2019 film Blackbird so soon after the passing of her mother. The film, featuring a stellar cast including Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, and Mia Wasikowska, centers on a family’s difficult farewell to their matriarch.
Winslet, who portrayed the daughter of the ailing Lily in Blackbird, shared her reflections on the Happy Place podcast, admitting she was still deeply affected by the loss of her own mother, Sally, who died in 2017. “It was only a year after I had lost my mother and I look back on it now and I think, ‘Oh my God, what was I thinking?! I was in no shape, you know, emotionally fit to be making a film to do with loss at all,’” she confessed to podcast host Fearne Cotton.
Despite her emotional vulnerability, Winslet suggests the project may have inadvertently served as a coping mechanism. “But it probably helped me to distract myself from emotions that I was probably wasn’t processing efficiently enough in my own life,” she explained. This highlights the complex relationship between an artist’s personal life and their creative choices.
The Subconscious Pull of Difficult Roles
Winslet further elaborated on the often-unconscious reasons actors are drawn to certain roles. “There are things, as actors, we’re drawn to entirely subconsciously and it’s only in hindsight that it’s crystal clear what we must have been emotionally trying to work through when we made that particular choice,” she stated. This observation speaks to the therapeutic potential of acting, even when undertaken during periods of intense personal grief.
The theme of familial loss continues to resonate in Winslet’s recent work. Her latest film, Goodbye June, similarly explores a family grappling with the impending death of their mother, June. Notably, Goodbye June holds a deeply personal significance for Winslet, as she directed and starred in the project, which was written by her son, Joe Anders, and inspired by his experiences following the death of his grandmother, Sally.
Reliving Loss Through Storytelling
The process of creating Goodbye June proved emotionally challenging for Winslet. “There were days where I was literally reliving what happened when I lost my own mum, even though our film is fictional… I think I did feel very vulnerable because it did bring up all that stuff up,” she shared. This underscores the power of storytelling to unlock and process deeply held emotions.
Goodbye June also features a distinguished ensemble cast, including Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, and Andrea Riseborough, and is currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Winslet’s candid reflections offer a rare glimpse into the emotional complexities faced by artists navigating personal tragedy while simultaneously bringing compelling stories to the screen. Her experiences demonstrate how creative endeavors can serve as both a distraction from, and a pathway toward, healing.
