Kate Winslet has assembled a stellar lineup of actors for her new Netflix film, Goodbye June, marking her first time in the director’s chair and showcasing the debut screenplay by her son. However, during an appearance on The View, Winslet shared that securing Dame Helen Mirren for the project was a bit of a challenge.

Alongside co-stars Toni Colette and Andrea Riseborough, Winslet discussed how she managed to persuade Mirren to bend her own acting principles to join the ensemble. “It wasn’t easy, yet it was completely straightforward because she’s entirely her own person and incredibly candid,” Winslet noted about Mirren’s decision-making process.

Winslet recounted that she and her son compiled a wishlist of dream actors for the film. “We made this list as a way to support my son, who was skeptical when I said we are actually going to make this movie,” she explained.

As it turned out, every actor they approached accepted their offer, leaving Mirren as the final piece of the puzzle. Winslet’s persistence paid off, completing the star-studded cast for Goodbye June.

After “all” of the actors they approached agreed to join the film, Mirren was the last person Winslet spoke to.

“I described the story. I said it had been written by my son, I was going to direct it,” Winslet recounted on The View. “She said, ‘Listen, I do need to tell you something I do have two personal rules.’”

According to Winslet, Mirren shared that her two personal rules are, “I don’t want to play anyone with dementia and I don’t want to play anyone who’s dying.”

Behar asked if it was because Mirren was “superstitious,” to which Winslet replied, “No, it’s just something that meant something to her.”

Winslet explained that she initially was not going to share the script with Mirren after hearing this, but Mirren was still interested in the project and said it sounded “rather lovely.”

“And a week later, I got an email and she said, ‘I’ll break my rule. I’d love to support you,’” Winslet revealed. “But thats who she is.”

Goodbye June, which was written by Winslet’s son Joe Anders, is about a complicated family that reunites when their mother’s health takes a turn for the worst. Joined by Johnny Flynn, Winslet, Colette and Riseborough star as siblings who have to set their differences aside after they’re thrown together to say goodbye to their mother one last time.

After Behar pointed out that Mirren has “no ego at all,” Winslet shared that was common for her entire cast. “We didn’t have that. There’s just none of that rubbish because it just takes up space. None of us are like that, thank goodness,” she said.

Goodbye June premieres on Netflix Dec. 24.