Over the past few months, I’ve been getting the feeling that Cate Blanchett is no longer a favorite around here. Just know: I still genuinely like her, even though she sometimes sounds like an a—hole. I still prefer Cate to many, many actresses. I think the problem with Cate might be that we’ve set the bar so high with her in particular – like, she must be all things to all people, she must always say the correct thing about every subject, and that’s just… impossible. Anyway, Cate has a feature in GQ’s Men of the Year issue and it’s really funny and interesting. She basically sits at a bar and gets hammered on martinis with the GQ journalist. She tells stories about Australia’s feral cats, the Sony Hack, how she really feels about Quentin Tarantino’s diss a few months ago (QT said “Half of these Cate Blanchett movies—they’re all just like these arty things” and all she’ll say is that she’s a QT fan) and how Aaron Sorkin doesn’t think actresses are as talented and hard-working as actors. Some highlights:
The endless conversations about gender equality: “It just feels like the industry has the same conversation every year, and I think that’s a fabulous conversation… We’ll be back here like Groundhog Day next year having the same f–king symposium. It just has to shift.”
Acting is not therapy: “I do something where I physically get up most days of the week and do weird sh-t and have catharsis. And so I guess any of that unprocessed stuff kind of gets worked through—it’s not that I’m seeing my job as some form of therapy. I mean, I find that notion quite disgusting, actually—repulsive. But I do have catharsis in my work. If I was an unemployed actor, I think I’d probably be less emotionally healthy. You know what I mean?”
The Sony Hack emails: “No, no, I don’t read that sh-t. No, I’m interested in talking about what the Sony hack means, but in terms of trolling through it to find out about who said what about who… I didn’t assume that it could have had anything to do with me, but I guess I’ve worked for them or have had intersections with them so… Yeah, and the other thing is I’m not in this business expecting or wanting everyone to like what I do. Believe me, I’m the harshest critic of what I do myself, so no one can say anything worse out there than I say to myself. And I’ve worked with a lot of people that I wouldn’t necessarily want to go out to dinner with….I knew that it was hacked, but I didn’t go and troll over the broken bones and identify the dead bodies. I didn’t do that. I was doing other stuff.”
What she could do beyond acting: “Yeah, but I don’t know what it is. What should I do? You got any suggestion? I can’t write. I can’t knit. I’m not crafty. I can cook. I can’t retire. What would you do, develop a hobby like golf? I tried golf; I’m really bad at it. I’m a full-time mother and I’m doing that. My husband said to me when we were living in Brighton, years ago in England, and I was talking about giving up acting, he said to me, ‘What are you passionate about?’ And I said, ‘The amount of plastic bags in the world.’ And so I reduced my passion to the proliferation of plastic bags. It’s that bad. I mean I really need to go and see a lifestyle coach or a career guidance counselor or something.”
I’ve been feeling the Groundhog Day vibe off of the feminism/gender equality conversations too, although to be fair to the “conversations,” I do think they move the needle. A little bit. In some places. Like, we’re getting to the point where there are more stories about studio accountability, a hunger for more female-driven projects, and actual evidence that those female-driven projects can deliver.
As for her Sony Hack comments, she was responding to questions about what she thought of Aaron Sorkin’s comments to Maureen Dowd about how actresses have it easier than actors, etc. I find it interesting that “I didn’t read that stuff” is the new “no comment.” Angelina Jolie said something similar too – that she was vaguely aware but she didn’t read it.
Oh, and here are some photos of Cate at the Pirelli calendar launch event a few days ago. Her dress is Stella McCartney and it’s awful – so unflattering.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Marc Abrahams/GQ.
That dress, blech.
I actually love the dress! Skewers and plays off the female form in a gorgeous way. Though she’s got the necessary poise and figure to pull it off.
Me too.
I’m still not crazy about it, and wouldn’t wear it, but your comment made me appreciate it on an artistic level, so thanks.
Maybe it’s just me but I feel like the needle has been moved a lot recently.
Now has a huge amount of change necessarilly come in perfectly? No. But I don’t believe change comes in any faster when you’re silent.
I think even if feminism/gender equality isn’t perfect and some women still feel like there’s an aspect of rage or bra burning that that’s good. Looking through history imo nothing has ever been changed with a peaceful conversation. Much of real concrete change has come when some segment of the population has truly REBELED and disrupted typical society enough that changes were forced down.
I think as more girls get passionate, express their thoughts, speak and make their voices heard they are leading to the steps of this change. I hate to say it but it goes beyond “Well behaved women don’t make history” and into, “Why should a society that doesn’t cater to you change to better you?”
So much of explaining feminism is soothing male ego’s and so much of the concrete change is lost because women are uncomfortable actually fighting against a society that doesn’t put them on equal footing.
Amen! Nothing will change if it kept secret or in the dark. Does it feel like Groundhog Day? Yes. But if you watched that movie Bill Murray CHANGED that was the whole point. Young women have to be educated (as Jennifer Lawrence is becoming re: her op) that there is a disparity and where and why that is from a feminist perspective. Then the newest generation of feminist will be born. We need new voices! Rant over. Thank you.
I thought the interview was quite boring, but at least she didn’t say anything nauseatingly smug like she usually does. I don’t think people are starting to dislike her her because the bar is set so high for her at all. In fact, she often gets a pass on here. Often. I think people are starting to dislike her because she has given so many interviews lately that it’s getting impossible to deny how insufferable she is.
I lost my taste for her when the Woody Allen scandal happened, and she quite clearly illustrated that her only interest was locking in her Oscar. I don’t expect her to be any better than her peers, but I did rather want her to be.
Ditto. That was it for me.
Yup, that ended my worshipping her pretty effectively.
+100
I think the conversation is one thing, but we, on the other side, have our role to play. Hollywood is motivated by the bottom line. Consumers can help speed along the gender equality conversation by supporting movies with strong female leads, and bringing the prospect of profit back as a factor. Movies like The Hunger Games, and shows like Jessica Jones are moving in the right direction, and it’s up to us to throw our weight behind them and prove that women are as financially viable as men.
She is an amazing actress and I don’t find her as obnoxious as others. “I too can command the wind sir! “
I don’t think anyone other than a few find her obnoxious (and really if she had not done Blue Jasmine, some people here would still be as taken as before). I mean people make it seem like she did a 360 grade change in her personality when she has always being like this in her interviews since she began her career.
Anyway, I did love the interview and most of the one she has done for this Carol press. She and Rooney have been an absolute delight.
Oh please. She doesn’t want to talk about gender equality cuz she is well f56ing aware of the fact that she only got her career cuz of the manly hollywood moguls in that shit industry (woody *cough* allen). She doesn’t want to step on their toes, because then it’s bye bye career.
I feel that Feminism in interviews became a bit like a fashion accessory that’s trendy and that everybody uses. But it comes a point where this superficial “conversation” is a bit like a word you say many times and then it becomes just a meaningless sound :/
Maybe she doesnt care because shes rich, but feminism matters to the rest of us.
If I’m not wrong Angelina said she didn’t read it but other people told her .. Cate here seems to basically say ‘I don’t care’. Really, I can’t seem to like her these day.. she really turned into a bit of an a-hole.