Aahana Swrup
‘Goodbye June’ charts the story of a family as they band together in preparation for a looming tragedy. As December 25th creeps on the horizon, the Cheshire family faces down an insurmountable loss as matriarch June’s cancer returns, this time with a terminal diagnosis. Soon enough, it becomes obvious that the older woman might not live long enough to celebrate another Christmas with her family. Nonetheless, her husband, Bernard, and their four children come together at the Princess Mary Cheltenham Hospital to make the most of the time they have left with her. Among these kids is Helen, the eldest daughter, who lives in a different city where meditation, crystals, and other methods of spiritual healing remain at the center of her life. Like her siblings, she also runs to her mother’s side as soon as she learns of her condition. However, Helen brings a unique surprise with her, an unexpected pregnancy.
Toni Collette Likely Used Prosthetics to Play the Role of Helen Cheshire
Helen’s pregnancy presents an integral aspect of her storyline as the eldest daughter in the Cheshire family. Helen is somewhat of a black sheep in the family as she strives to live a free and spirited life. She subscribes to a more holistic lifestyle and isn’t confined by the status quo or societal expectations in her life. Naturally, her experience with starting a family of her own looks much different than that of her younger sisters, Julia and Molly. For one, her pregnancy comes as a surprise to the entire family despite being months underway. Additionally, the involvement of the biological father in the future of the pregnancy and the baby also remains close to non-existent. This influences Helen’s narrative in a number of ways, including in her relationship with her family.
Toni Collette, the Academy Award-nominated actress who brings the character to the screen, was not pregnant in real life at the time of filming. Although no reports have come out about the methods employed to achieve her on-screen pregnancy, it is likely that the actress used prosthetics, such as baby bumps, to achieve the visual of the character. Additionally, as a mother of two, Collette has personal experience with pregnancy as well, which likely had a positive impact on the authenticity of her performance. However, Helen’s relationship with the prospect of motherhood remains the least of the similarities between the character and actress behind her. In a conversation with The Wall Street Journal, the latter spoke about the points of similarity between herself and the on-screen expectant mother.
Colette said, “Kate (Winslet) didn’t know when she was hiring me that she was actually hiring Helen. I’m a little more grounded, a little less kooky, maybe a lot less kooky, but I’m into astrology, I’m into crystals, I’m into energy work, pretty much all the same things. But it comes from a different place with her.” She added, “I think Helen, being the eldest child, has a weird sense of abandonment. When a parent has another child, they naturally have to shift their focus to take care of the younger kids. All of this searching, seeking, journeying, finding a sense of self and a sovereign self, all that stuff comes from a little hole, a little bit of lack in her. And I really don’t feel that mine does.”
Read More: Goodbye June: Is Princess Mary Cheltenham a Real Hospital?
