She is quite indisputably one of the most celebrated actors of our time – and yet, Cate Blanchett has her mind on far more important matters affecting our world today.
Starring in the new Bleecker Street film Rumours, playing German Chancellor Hilda Orlmann alongside other fictitious world leaders during a rather bizarre G7 Summit, when I asked Blanchett, 55, what it was about this film’s character and story that made her want to take this on next, the two-time Oscar winner quickly cut me off by joking, “That made us want to end our careers? I thought I’d go out with a bang!”
(Left to right) Roy Dupuis, Rolando Ravello, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, Denis Ménochet, Nikki … [+]
When I followed up that Rumours from filmmaker Guy Maddin is an apocalyptic tale, so that is perfect, Blanchett said, “Don’t you feel every second Wednesday feels like the end of days? There are so many conflicts around the world – what we’re doing with the climate. There’s an expression in Australia – I have had it up to pussy’s bow. I feel like we’ve all had it up to pussy’s bow with the failure of leadership. We feel so powerless, so it’s a great thing to be able to go into a cinema with a bunch of people and laugh at the absurdity of the situation that we’re in.”
In reality, Blanchett remains a Goodwill Ambassador with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). So, with elections happening all over the world right now, including within the U.S. in November, I brought up with Blanchett that even though Rumours is a comedy-horror satire, it can be perceived as a timely story that can be a wake up call for our society. Being one of the stars and an executive producer on this film, I wondered if Blanchett saw that, as well.
“Definitely! I mean, I think that’s totally the baggage that the audience will bring into the cinema with them. If you’ve looked at the outcomes of the G7, when the stakes are so high – they’ve never been higher – but yet, it’s like they’re speaking a foreign language that the average citizen can’t even unpick. It feels we’re so lost, in a way – and so, if anything will urge people to go out and vote, maybe it’s this movie. I don’t know! Look, you could call it a political satire but it’s also like an episode of Scooby-Doo. It’s so deliberately stupid. A stupid film for stupid times.”
Blanchett’s co-stars in Rumours also spoke briefly with me about their Hollywood movie star scene partner and getting to act alongside her on this project.
(Left to right) Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Nikki … [+]
The actor Denis Ménochet, who plays French President Sylvain Broulez in the film, said of Blanchett, “Watching Cate work is incredible. She makes it effortless. She’s the best!”
Nikki Amuka-Bird, who plays British Prime Minister Cardosa Dewindt in Rumours, said, “You know, they sort of say don’t work with your heroes. This would be the case where I completely beg to differ. It was quite challenging because I am huge fan. I don’t think I’ve ever had the conversation with Cate – just blatantly going, ‘I’ve seen, I think, most of your movies and you are an absolute living legend.’ I think what’s great about her is she will dispel that kind of mythology about herself very quickly and she’s the first one to roll up her sleeves, get sunk in, try new things and really assert that we were doing this as a team and everyone’s voice and everyone’s part was as valid. So, it was just really lovely not only to work with her but really get to play and feel that she was bouncing off us all and encouraging everybody, as well.”
(Left to right) Denis Ménochet, Rolando Ravello, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, … [+]
The actor Roy Dupuis, who plays Canadian Prime Minister Maxime Laplace, said of Blanchett, “For me, it was just like playing with a very, very, very, very good actress that was there for the right reasons – to tell the story. So, it just makes you better.”
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of one of Blanchett’s early acting roles, playing Meredith Logue in the 1999 film, The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon in the 1999 film, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”
After reminding Blanchett of the film’s anniversary, which also starred young Hollywood newcomers at the time – Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law – she said, “Films like that don’t get made anymore. The types of film the late, great Anthony Minghella made – they don’t get made like that anymore in those ways. It was so beautiful. It was made at the time of another time. There was a kind of sense of intelligent nostalgia in there. I am quite nostalgic for those experiences and I met such great actors – the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. We hung out for three months in Italy together and we got to know each other, and it’s a beautiful film. There was a Ripley made with Andrew Scott, who I worship as an actor. It was great but it was so different.”
As I concluded my conversation with Blanchett, I asked if she has noticed her creative mindset evolving towards her interests in the projects and stories that she chooses to take on within her career today.
Cate Blanchett attends a screening of “Rumours” during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at BFI … [+]
Blanchett said, “It’s very hard. I find it in the moment, with the world in such a state of flux, to know where to apportion one’s time because the biggest luxury is time, right? I have four children and I have a garden, and I feel in a way, I’m more productive in my garden than I am anywhere else. Sometimes, it’s those small things that are really important. This film is a small, low budget endeavor but it somehow feels really big and it was super important to me, and felt like the only way to tackle all of these issues that are swirling and things that I’m concerned about in my head. It felt like the right way to kind of approach it because it’s so ridiculous and overwhelming. It feels like in timing, in a way, one’s career is built out of.”
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