Kate Winslet found it difficult to play an uncaring mother in her new film Little Children.

The actress, who has two children of her own, has described the experience as "very, very upsetting".

"My character's not a good mother. She's not very hands-on and she doesn't have a strong bond with her child, so it was very, very upsetting to have to put myself in that position and feel those emotions," Kate told The Mirror.

"I didn't have to be mean, just cold, but that was very difficult because I am not that kind of parent at all and I absolutely adored the little girl who played my daughter."