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Talk Asia

Interview with Cate Blanchett

Aired December 26, 2015 - 02:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(VIDEO CLIP, "ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE")

MONITA RAJPAL, CNN HOST (voice-over): She's played royalty, she's played spies and she's played a mythical being from the imagination of a master

storyteller.

(VIDEO CLIP, "THE AVIATOR")

RAJPAL (voice-over): But among her plethora of silver screen performances, it was her role as a Hollywood legend that scored Cate Blanchett her first

Oscar statuette for Best Supporting Actress.

(VIDEO CLIP, "BLUE JASMINE")

RAJPAL (voice-over): Followed by her portrayal of the fallen Manhattan socialite in Woody Allen's, "Blue Jasmine," that won her a second Academy

Award for her leading role.

But she's done more than charm critics and audiences with her acting versatility and dedication to her craft. Offscreen, she's a style and

beauty icon, a wife and mother.

CATE BLANCHETT, ACTOR: To create and help foster creative classrooms.

RAJPAL (voice-over): And an avid supporter of the Sydney Theater Company, of which her husband is the artistic director.

This month on TALK ASIA, we're in Sydney with Cate Blanchett to find out about her first big break into Hollywood and why she's so curious about

what makes people tick.

BLANCHETT: And I said, "Darling, because I'm an actor."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RAJPAL (voice-over): Cate Blanchett, welcome to TALK ASIA.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Thank you.

RAJPAL (voice-over): We're here in your beautiful city of Sydney in the Sydney Theater Company, where this place has been your home away from home

ever since you perhaps left the drama school.

BLANCHETT: Yes. When I actually grew up in Melbourne and then I came to Sydney to go to the National Institute here and then got catapulted out and

I thought, well, I'll give it five years and see what happens. To return here and run the Sydney Theater Company was pretty -- it was a pretty

enticing offer.

RAJPAL: This particular theater company was also the place where you got some of your first major roles onstage. When you come back here now and

you see these walls, you walk through those doors, what do you remember?

BLANCHETT: So when I emerged from drama school, I had no expectation that I would ever work in film. It was never -- it wasn't a particular interest

of mine. I've been mostly influenced by experiences in the theater growing up.

And I just -- so I naturally gravitated and desired to work at companies like the Sydney Theater Company. And so to return here, I can still

remember walking down the fire tunnel. I still remember my first audition and my -- getting my first job here. And I thought, well, this is it, a

huge door to a really exciting career has opened simply by working amongst the theater greats who I'd admired, Robyn Nevin and the late Wendy Hughes

and Geoffrey Rush, all of those wonderful -- Robert Menzies, wonderful actors who I've had the great good fortune to work here.

RAJPAL: Some would say that -- I guess it was, what, five years after your first role here, first starring role in "Oleanna," 1993, five years later,

"Elizabeth" happens. Some people would say that five years, not a long time.

BLANCHETT: In actress years, I mean, dog years.

(LAUGHTER)

BLANCHETT: We've gotten quite similar, that feels.

It's quite -- I started quite late in film --

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHETT: -- when I was about 25. But in retrospect, I think my agent was panicking about it more than I was. I think the only thing I knew for

sure is that I wanted to, whatever I did, I wanted to travel with my work, an adventurous spirit. And I wanted to, whatever I did, the most important

thing to me was to work with people that I respected and to have the respect of my peers. That was what I said to myself when I was 17.

But what I actually did was secondary and hopefully I'm achieving or coming some way close to achieving those goals.

RAJPAL: And is that perhaps also the goal behind how you picked the kind of roles? Because there is that danger of being known for only doing

certain types of roles or, for example, if you're going to be a period actress or.

BLANCHETT: I think so. I think it depends on the type of actor you are and what you're interested in. But for me, I was -- I realized very

quickly that after "Elizabeth" being relatively unknown internationally, even domestically here in Australia, in terms of film, I wasn't necessarily

not known on the stage, but that I got sent a lot of roles which were ostensibly the same story as "Elizabeth" with different outfits.

So that's the story. And I thought, well, I sort of told parts of that story I'm more interested in. That's a really great role. That's a really

interesting film. I die on page 9. Doesn't matter. That's really -- that's an interesting challenge. I haven't done that before.

And I remember a director saying to me a few years back, he said, you've got to stop taking small roles. And I said why? I said that's what

interests me. I'm not interested in building a career as such. I'm more interested in the experience. And if it means those offers dry up, I don't

know. Maybe I'll go and work with the Red Cross. There's many things that you can do with your life. It doesn't necessarily -- I think if you're in

a creative sphere, or if you're hungry for experience, then those experiences don't necessarily happen like rungs of a ladder or in a linear

way.

And to me, that's a dynamic life.

RAJPAL: How do you want to be challenged when you think something's worth pursuing?

BLANCHETT: I think once you've achieved certain things that are understood as being career milestones, which are wonderful, you've got to then be --

terrified sounds so negative. But I think it's that sense of adrenalin that you get by bungee jumping into an unknown place. And I think a good

script, a good creative conversation puts you in that zone. I think and that's what keeps you alive to do the work, I think.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BLANCHETT (voice-over): If you actually were a human piece of social media, and walked around to everyone every 10 seconds, do you like me? Do

you like me? Do you like me? That's ostensibly what you're doing. You'd think, get away.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP, "ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE")

RAJPAL: There's a line in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" where it's said, "When the storm breaks, some are dumb with terror and some spread their

wings and soar."

That line struck me because that's what separates those who do and those who don't. And that sense of fear that you feel, does that stay with you

with every role that you embark on?

BLANCHETT: Yes. And it does. I think about that as a parent, too. Maybe it was evident (ph) and I was just lucky to have teachers who encouraged me

to be brave. There are always people who are working beyond their comfort zone. And I think it's -- and the media places a very big spotlight on

those that fail, who have succeeded in the past.

And I think it's -- for me, as an actor, I don't know in all professions, but you need to develop a thick enough skin to withstand that gantlet that

you run with the media, that sense of public shame, of failure.

You have to keep risking that and develop a thick skin whilst having a very thin skin in relation to your work because, as an actor, it's all about

being open and sensitive and available and vulnerable. But then at the same time, it's -- you need to know which voices to buffer off and which

ones to listen to, if that makes any sense.

RAJPAL: Absolutely. How do you learn to do that? Especially in this day and age with social media being what it is. If anything is magnified to

such a --

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHETT: For one, you don't participate in social media. I don't know that -- I mean, we were all just talking about it this morning. It's --

anyone who's in a relationship to young children, teenagers, is acutely aware of the costs and the addictive nature of it.

But I think more in answer to your question, I think that it's -- you just need to know when to participate and when not to.

I mean, you always know as an actor. In this theater, just across the -- behind those walls, it's almost a 900-seat house. And you can feel as an

actor I am -- there's 200 people in this base. You keep talking to -- they're -- I can tell there's three people asleep in Row G and I know I'm

losing the people up in the balcony. I think we need to lift the energy more. And you can do something about it.

But on any night, even if it's a fabulous performance at that particular play, that there might be 150 people who go out there and go, "That was the

dain (ph) thing I've ever had." Or "That was the best sleep I've ever had. God, she can't act."

And there might be 600 people who said, "That was amazing." But you don't hear every voice. You can feel it and you can do something with the

general sense of it. But it's not useful to know the specific comments of those 150 people who didn't like it. You just know that you need to do

something about it.

RAJPAL: Yes, you can't always feel like this is an internal shake that happens, when you feel like you're on the edge of something and you feel

you should respond, but you know you shouldn't as well. You want to, but you shouldn't.

BLANCHETT: It's the difference, I suppose, to go further with that analogy of standing on stage, it's the difference between being an actor and you

need and you want to have an effect on that audience on that night. You want them to leave liking the performance, being affected by the

performance.

But you don't want to be need-y. And so if you actually were a human piece of social media and walked around to everyone every 10 seconds, "Do you

like me? Do you like me? Do you like me?" That's ostensibly what you're doing. You'd think, "Get away," and to really -- if social media was made

into a human being, you'd think I do not want to have dinner with you.

(LAUGHTER)

BLANCHETT: It's sort of the worst part of us as a species. It's a useful thing, but you've got to know how to handle it. And you've got to know

when to walk away from it.

RAJPAL: One of my favorite films of yours, "Notes on a Scandal," and there's this one line where Sheba says, "Mind the gap. There's such a

distance between life as you dream it and life as it is."

What was life for you as you dreamt it, before you made it?

And what did you realize it was or wasn't?

BLANCHETT: I'm probably going to be asking myself that question for the next 10 years.

RAJPAL: But that's good. That's that constant conversation that one has with themselves.

BLANCHETT: I don't know. I'm very practical as a person and I don't -- I think those dreams I don't try and unpick them. And so your hopes and

aspirations exist. Your fantasy life exists in a way that you don't -- I sort of don't tamper with it because in a way that's what I draw from

unconsciously.

But I certainly didn't think I would have run the Sydney Theater Company. I certainly never thought I'd be working with brands like SK-II, that

somehow some physical aspect of my body would be something that was desirable to other people. I never thought that.

And I didn't think you could do that and have a fulfilling creative life. I didn't necessarily think that I'd ever have children. It's not that I

never wanted them. But I never thought about it.

So my life is a series of surprises to be frank. I didn't think I would have found a life partner who I'd still be able to work alongside, be

completely madly in love with him and also be my best friend 17 years later.

I mean, all those things, they've been revelations to me.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RAJPAL (voice-over): Another Australian said, "Say hi to our natural treasure." That's what they said about you.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Oh, it's at that point in my age.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RAJPAL (voice-over): Cate, so we're here at part of the Sydney Theater Company, this other heart of the theater company and of course this is one

of the walls of fame. That is your first major role here.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Yes. That was "Oleanna," David Mamet's "Oleanna."

RAJPAL (voice-over): 1993.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Oh, my God; is that when it was? That's a long time ago. Yes, this is the home base of the Sydney Theater Company.

RAJPAL (voice-over): Yes.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): It's quite unique, actually.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

RAJPAL (voice-over): You have a real love for the stage, don't you?

BLANCHETT (voice-over): I do. I do. It's -- you're thrown to the lions. But I think that's really exciting. You're acutely aware of your audience

and whether you're actually reaching them or not reaching them, which you can often forget in film.

RAJPAL (voice-over): What about the directing aspect for you, when you were a part of this -- when you were working with your husband alongside --

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHETT (voice-over): You mean physically directing plays?

RAJPAL (voice-over): -- physically directing plays, what was that like for you? What kind of skill did you feel you could tap into and really make

the most of?

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Well, I -- (INAUDIBLE) it was always about finding the right play. I think a natural full-time jobbing director, which I'm

not, it's constantly on the hunt for that, whereas I think I probably responded to the material primarily as an actor. But it's a relief that I

don't have to execute -- facilitate it.

RAJPAL (voice-over): Another Australian just said, "Say hi to our natural treasure." That's what they said about you.

BLANCHETT (voice-over): Oh, it's at that point in my age.

(LAUGHTER)

RAJPAL (voice-over): I think he was quoting to your talent.

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHETT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE). No.

RAJPAL: When I was doing research on you, I kept seeing, even by the most respected movie or theater critics, as they were writing about your work in

"Blue Jasmine," how a powerful performance it was, especially at a time, at an age when women's leading roles such as that, meaty roles are few and far

between.

And what I -- what angered me about that was, so what; you hit a certain age and then, what, you just disappear into the ether?

BLANCHETT: The media is a very conservative place, mainstream media is a very conservative place, I think. And I don't think that's the feeling on

the street. I think that women, as consumers of culture, are the largest consumers of culture. And I think to your point, I think probably what's

behind those comments about "Blue Jasmine" is you get paid nothing to make it. Woody Allen notoriously makes -- famously makes films on a shoestring,

which is why he keeps making them, able to make them. He maintains his independence that way. And all hail to him.

But the film made -- blew all those box office records. My goodness, say all the male critics, who would have thunk a female story would make money?

But it happens all the time. And it's just why are we still refusing to see the fact that women -- films with women at the center make money.

RAJPAL: But it's not even just the idea of women, but women of a certain age as well, I don't know, maybe because when I hit 40, I -- it was that --

what, all of a sudden, I kept seeing everything about, well, you know, after you're 40, roles diminish or work.

I guess from a superficial perspective, is it important to be brand ambassadors for brands like SK-II where you are a woman over 40 and you're

still shown beautiful and can sell.

Is that important?

BLANCHETT: It sounds superficial but anything you can do to make yourself feel more confident about your skin, your hair, your body, do it. And be

involved in conversations that make you feel more positive about yourself.

RAJPAL: Where did that strength come from? Growing up in Melbourne in a house of women with your grandmother and your mum after your dad passed

away?

Was that strength, do you think that was nature or nurture?

BLANCHETT: I don't know. It's funny, isn't it. I'm certainly it's my mother and my grandmother were both very strong women. I guess it's coming

off the modeling of your parents and your mother and your grandmother for sure, my sister and I'm sure all that had.

And I remember I was watching -- you know, that show, "Green Acres," and I loved to -- I always listened to all of those television tunes. And my

mother sat me down and she said, "Listen to the lyrics." "Green Acres is the place for me; farm living is the life to be (sic)."

And you say -- and the man said, "You are my wife."

And the wife said, "Goodbye, city life."

And she gave up everything for her husband. And she said -- and my mother said to me, "Is that the life you want to live?"

And I said, "What do you mean? It's just a song."

You know, as you do as a teenager.

But those things that your mother says to you or says, "respect yourself," I don't know. I'm as flawed as the next person. I'm as self-destructive

as the next person. But you try and rise about that stuff.

RAJPAL: I read in an interview where your sisters, Genevieve (ph) --

BLANCHETT: (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

BLANCHETT: -- she'd take Genevieve (ph).

RAJPAL: Is it?

(LAUGHTER)

RAJPAL: She said that -- and I'm quoting here -- about you -- she always felt she has to be happy and successful and never felt she could fail.

Did you always --

BLANCHETT: (INAUDIBLE)?

RAJPAL: Well, I think it was after your father passed and one of his coworkers came to the house said you have to be very --

BLANCHETT: This is funny. It's funny as -- when someone dies, it's ancient, all the portals that open. And you remember what happens that day

and what's said to you. And I was 10, my sisters was 8 and my brother was 12 -- 11. And my mum had to go off and finally turn the life support

system off for my father.

And her coworker was in there and, bless his socks, he was only trying to do the right thing. And he sat us down. And of course he was very upset

himself. And he said to us -- I remember him pointing the finger -- he said, "Your mother has got a very tough time ahead of her. You will all

have to be very, very good."

And he was only trying to look after my mother. And there was no malice in it at all.

But somehow that's the sense of I have to be a really good girl. I have to be really responsible.

And so I think I probably took that on board. Don't worry. I've been very, very bad.

(LAUGHTER)

RAJPAL: Do tell!

BLANCHETT: But somehow it's that sense of being responsible and maybe that's informed the practical side of me.

RAJPAL: With each experience that you've had, whether it's personal, familial, professional, it certainly adds to your ability to do your

craft.

BLANCHETT: I guess so, yes.

RAJPAL: What have you learned about yourself and your ability then to really sink into a character and take over that role?

BLANCHETT: I don't think about it, to be honest. And I don't know that I'm that interested in learning about myself, except for the bits that I

don't like, which you kind of eradicate on a daily level, just as a human being, let alone as an actor.

I'm very curious about what makes other people tick. I was saying to my son the other night, who was clearly upset about something at school, and

was acting out.

And I said, "You're obviously upset about something, Sweetheart."

And he said, "How do you know?"

And I said, "Darling, because I'm an actor."

(LAUGHTER)

BLANCHETT: And I said, "It's my job to observe those things and work out what's making that person tick."

RAJPAL: That's the thing, isn't it, constantly being open to what we said from the very b beginning, what you said is just open to what life brings

you.

There was a time when the dream for you was to play Lucy from "Peanuts."

BLANCHETT: Oh, I know.

RAJPAL: What would you tell that young girl who had those dreams, to live that magical life, what would you tell her today, knowing what you know

now, what she didn't know then?

BLANCHETT: I think it's important not to know what I know now. I think it's so -- I think what is fantastic when you're around kids who are alive

and confident -- I don't mean arrogant, I mean confident and engaged and open, is that they don't have that sense of consequence. And I think it's

a sense of I could do that or I want to do that, that I'm -- I mean, I think it's probably about self-respect. I think it's not so much about

what you say yes to; it's what you say no to.

But I don't know. I'm not a big one on giving advice to younger people.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BLANCHETT: Because (INAUDIBLE).

RAJPAL (voice-over): Cate Blanchett.

(CROSSTALK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

END