The Australian actress exclaimed, "I look like a vampire!" I look like I have an instrument in my hand. She is sitting late one night in the study of her home in the English countryside and the mood is gothic with a touch of eco-spiritual and two small owl Totems behind her. She is wearing black, pointed, thick-rimmed glasses that make her look like she is auditioning for a highbrow remake of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. She is happy.
After a long day of filming a new series for Apple TV directed by Alfonso Cuarn, Blanchett is back at her house. At her feet are her three dogs, who mostly behave themselves, although she warns that they will be in trouble. There are many achievements, including Oscar-winning turns in Blue Jasmine and The Aviator, two Oscar-nominated takes on Elizabeth I, roles in other films, and TV series like Stateless or Mrs America. She co-ran the Sydney Theatre Company with her husband and has starred in a number of ambitious stage productions. She lives in Britain with him, their three sons and daughter, and her mother.
One of the films she will star in this season has already placed her as a leading contender in the awards season. Todd Field wrote and directed Tr, a piece that shows the actress as Lydia Tr, a complicated music conductor who is approaching 50 and preparing a seminal performance of the fifth symphony. It's a showcase, and Blanchett is in every scene. She admits that it was one of the most intense and enlightening experiences she has had.
The performance is eye-wateringly committed and artistic with a capital "A". When asked if he wrote it for her, Todd Field said yes. Not with the person in mind. I wrote it for someone else. The maker of Little Children says that she didn't know that. Field had written a film with Didion, but nothing came of it. The meeting left Field with the impression of an individual who possessed the kind of wit and intelligence one rarely, if ever, comes across. He is an honest-to- God genius. Who better to play a brilliant person?
"I don't think I've processed it, to be honest." It isn't very common. She had to conduct full orchestra in certain scenes to prepare for the role.
Someone reaching the top is what Tr is about. Lydia is seen promoting and dismissing colleagues, teaching and argue with students, ponder the nature and needs of art, and try to ignore the manic emails of a former protégée. It would be foolish to call it an indictment of the patriarchal classical music scene.
There is a gold and diamond Fantasy ring on the ring finger and a white and yellow-gold and diamond Fantasy ring on the little finger.
The star of a thousand TikToks is obsessed with her sexuality. A question as to whether she has heard of a cult account called "dykeblanchett", which likes to give a Sapphic twist to her every move, brings bafflement, then a laugh, and then a hint of concern. Tr has that painful, painful moment when you discover that you are not who you think you are. The way people view you is vastly different to the way you move through the world. We try to control the things we can't control in social media.
As to what Tr herself has done right or wrong, "I don't want to define it," says Blanchett, a warm conversationist who likes to give rattling, long answers. She's on the run from herself because you can't outrun yourself. It is better to work with a chihuahua than it is to work with a Great Danes. That unexamined chihuahua is going to wake you up at 3am and kill you.
All of which raises the question of what she has been up to. There was a huge pause. My children tell me how restless I am and how I need to sit still. When I am in my pyjamas, they love it. She admits that she is always heading to the next destination. It is hard for me to say no to staying in my pyjamas because there is so much to do in the world. I'm not sure if that's running from something.
After working together on last year's Nightmare Alley, she was offered a second chance to work with del Toro on the remake of Pinocchio. It was a pleasure for Blanchett, an actor who likes to play against type. I know who you are, that's one of the conversations we all have. This is you, this is you. You immediately ask, "Am I?". I'm not all that You want to go in a different direction.
She was thrilled when he said she was a 12-year-old boy. The director says that Cate has a great sense of humor. She is capable of unleashing a lot of force into the wild energy. I was told that Spazzatura was her spirit animal. I think it's true.
It has been 24 years since the release of Elizabeth, a sumptuous period piece that affirmed her regal qualities. She has been an actress for a long time. She said it was a miracle that she had been married for 25 years. She might have expected that kind of relationship. I don't think I had a plan. He was the second of three children to grow up in the suburb. She was brought up by her mother and grandmother after her father died of a heart attack. After studying economics and fine arts at Melbourne University, she dropped out for a year and went to a theatre school in Australia.
I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be in a relationship, and I wanted to have children. She said she didn't have any of those thoughts. One experience was followed by another. What was new about playing Tr? The experience of playing someone who was driven and self-possessed was extraordinary.
She would not say she had that drive. You would think that considering her CV. I look like I work hard. She seems horrified by the idea. It's not at all. She insists it's not at all. It is more of a compulsion than a drive, and I think there is a difference.
She is perfect for fashion because of her acting skills. Few of the big stars can pull off a delicately frilled gown or a manly tux, but she can do both with ease. It is the reason Giorgio Armani paid her a reported $10 million to be the face of his perfume S. She was a Vuitton ambassador this summer.
She says that her love of fashion started with a costume. When she was a child, her sister would dress her up and name her character. We used to play it. I love talking to my friends who are costume designers. She says that the psychology of what people think is through their clothes. You can see how emotional they are with how they wear it. Her crumbling attire in Blue Jasmine came to mind. She says they look slightly uncomfortable when they dress for other people. People can read who the character is before you say anything. That's really fascinating.
Do you think about her? She dresses in real life. She cried as she looked at her. I'm wearing a onesie. At home, she is mostly comfortable with her furniture. It is about how those things are made, where they are made, what materials are used, and how the workers are treated. There are a lot of things that affect how beautiful a thing is. The piece of jewellery is not the only thing.
David Mamet wrote Oleanna at the beginning of her career. Sex, age and power are similar to Tr's concerns. Is there much change or progress in the last 40 years?
I agree on one level. I think women are more aware of what's going on. My generation was brought up by another generation of women who were worried about their daughters being proactive because of the backlash for calling themselves feminist. She said this is over. She said that she thought about what was happening with reproductive freedom. There's something to look at. The people who are holding onto power do not want to leave.
It was recommended.
She has more pressing issues in mind. She has interviewed William, the Prince of Wales, former Irish president Mary Robinson and historian and author Rutger Bregman in a bid to find solutions to the climate change problem. We have to make sure we don't burn. I don't know what to tell my children if we don't make the transition to a more circular economy in the next three or four years. She and her mother may go harvest the tomatoes tomorrow, but even an innocuous question about her love of gardening lurches into a near- apocalyptic fear. She says she gets a lump in her throat when she's asked about it. I'm very water obsessed.
She is so inquisitive and voluble that you get the sense that there is always a solution. You are reminded that she has a lot to do when you watch Tr.
She asked if she knew those monkey bars. A friend of mine was a drama school student. They said that when you let go of one hand, you swing to grab another, and that is pure joy. It's rare when you fall in love or when you're in full flow in life. I've experienced it on stage, in rehearsal rooms, and in making Tr. She says the addictive thing is wanting to feel that flow again. She says that maybe it isn't what she's running from. Maybe it is.
Tr will be in cinemas in the UK on 13 January, but it won't be on the streaming service.
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