Here are some photos of Cate Blanchett at the BFI London Film Festival premiere of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. She’s the voice of Spazzatura. Her suit here is Alexander McQueen. I genuinely thought “why is she wearing a bagel suit?” I only realized much later that it’s a brown eye on her suit and not a bagel or donut. Sad! I would have liked it better if she wore a suit with a donut graphic.

While I imagine Cate will do some promo for del Toro, make no mistake, she’s going all-in on Tár. The reviews are in and critics LOVE it. They think Cate’s performance is brilliant and Oscar-worthy. Cate is promoting the hell out of it already, including this long-winded and overly detailed New York Times piece. Some highlights:

She’s not some fart-sniffing actor: “I’m not interested in any way in a one-to-one direct comparison, or having a moment of personal catharsis in public. Like, ‘Oh the role meant this to me,’ or, ‘I channeled my own inner’ — no.” She looked briefly nauseated. “None of that stuff.”

How much is permitted when you’re a genius? “How much is permissible when you’re striving for excellence?” Tár “is about to go through a massive transition. She’s about to turn 50. She’s found a way to escape herself and to become larger than herself, and better, and bigger than herself in the making of music. But now it’s like that connection has been broken.”

Her father’s death when she was 10: “There was a lot of stuff that was difficult to unpack. And it was hard to talk about. So we didn’t. We tried to, you know. It was no one’s fault, but it was often quite quiet.”

When she’s asked if she’s a water sign: “NO! I had my chart done years ago. I am Taurus, Taurus, Taurus. I am a triple Taurus. Isn’t that … depressing? Can you imagine Andrew’s — it’s not my fault, darling!”

When she’s told she’s incredibly hard-working: “I mean — do you — Spike Milligan had on his grave, ‘I told you I was ill’ — what am I going to have on mine? ‘The hardest-working person’? That’s so depressing! ‘She worked so hard.’”

She has trouble sleeping: “No, I haven’t [had time to rest]. And sorry for being … vague. I haven’t been sleeping.” Her kids were on summer holiday; she was preoccupied with the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade; generally the world seemed to be “tilting off its axis.” She rubbed her forehead lightly. “When do I sleep? No.”

[From The NY Times]

A triple Taurus? My God. My dad was a Taurus. Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. And hard-working, focused, driven, all of that. But yeah, they’re always right about everything and no, they will not take any criticism or help. In some ways, Virgos and Tauri complement each other perfectly in that we’re equally insufferable. I honestly didn’t know she was a Taurus either – if I didn’t know, I would have guessed Scorpio (incidentally, did you know Joe Biden is a Scorpio? THAT IS INSANE.) As for Cate not playing the “I lived with this character and it destroyed my life, here’s how much I suffered” game, good for her. That sh-t is exhausting and I hope Cate never plays that sh-t.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.