Cate Blanchett Talks ‘Tár’ and Fulfilling the Awards Prophecy of Winning an Oscar Every Nine Years

Tar star Kate Blanchett's performance in Central is a favorite after the two-time Oscar winner took home the Bafta Golden Globe and Critics Choice

awards

. Toddfield's psychological drama about the rise and fall of a lesbian director earned six Oscar nominations, including best motion picture director, original screenplay, cinematography and film editing. In addition to Cate Blanchett's best actress nod, the writer-director, Todd Field's first feature in 16

years

, is by far his most confident in abandoning the tropes of a conventional thriller that may or may not have big plots in the which many support, which depends on your interpretation. Instead, he replaces them with a suspenseful and deeply provocative story of power.

Intrigue and mystery as Oscar season comes to a close. I met up with Blanchette once again to talk about tar and her experiences in the Trail campaign. I started by asking him what he remembered about his first Oscar nomination in 1998 for Elizabeth, yeah, well, because it was such an unusual movie, he was really at the helm of this sort of Bollywood Meets West hybrid and Shaka Kapoor was directing it and you know, we had a famous soccer star, Eric. Cantona playing the Duke of Anjou and we had people from the north playing English Lords and Ladies, which within English culture had not traditionally happened at the time, it felt like such a strange thing to potentially, you know, end my career before that I had started at the time, so the fact that people showed up and it was the first time I was talking to people who were passionate about a film that I had been in was very early, so it was all such an important learning . curve and um and then being nominated for I thought people were joking when they said I had an academy nomination, it was a really incredible moment and suddenly I was chatting with people that I had admired my whole life. and I couldn't believe I was in the same room as them.

I can't yet, you know because I think

every

job you do is a pretty interesting process. I think the more you do, the more you realize that it doesn't. You don't know anything, so you have to put

every

movie aside after you've made it and you know, if you're involved in the post-production process like I was on this one, you have to try to find the movie again. and then you have to talk to people about it, which of course is another process again, um, but yeah, it's um. In this particular one I felt like I was starting at Ground Zero again because I didn't know anything about the world it took place in and she was such an enigmatic character and the conversation that you know is alive in the movie felt so dangerous but vital, You know, I was very excited but nervous thinking about how the audience might receive it and once again I thought, well, that's the end.

All in all, I'd like to publicly thank you for bringing Top Field out of this 16-year hiatus because I've missed him terribly and he's a very, very important voice for cinema and his crowning work and that says something that I'm a big fan of. the little kids and um in the bedroom a lot uh how does it compare to all the great directors that you've worked with throughout your career? Talk about leading like you always know you know your abilities. It's that you need to know where to put the camera, you know if you select it right and you know that your pre-production has been excellent and you have the production design right, the costume design right and all those things.

Director of photography, so you need to know how to look at who you're looking at and what you're looking at and Todd every day would know where to put the camera and he would set it up and he said, no, it has to be two. feet to the left, you know, it goes up a little bit, yes, okay, he was very meticulous and diligent and sharp as a laser with his Focus, but still, as a director, I don't know if this is because he is a musician himself jazz and actor. It's so fluid that it's almost like someone else wrote the script besides him, you know, I often went up to him and said look, you know, in the opening shot of the movie where I'm behind the stage and the characters backstage um and she's hearing all these sounds in the script, there was a long description of all the things she was hearing because she has something called misophonia, which is a hypersensitivity to sound, which is why people reference sweet rappers and to the bottle caps, and obviously there were a lot of cuts for those things and I was looking at the moment when I said, don't we need to get all these cuts?

He said no, no, I'm not going to do any of that, so he responded to what was going on. in acting and decided he didn't need to film that and the wonderful thing about working with him is that the script is a resource for making the movie, he's always looking for the movie, which is a really exciting environment to be in. everything is on the line, yeah, so you gotta keep him working, tell him to get back to work now because I can't wait 60 more

years

, but the amazing thing about him is you know we all focus on the fact that he hasn't. made a feature film, but in that time he has been experimenting with lenses, lighting, cameras, perspective, he is always looking and listening, he is as alive as a human being, you know, and in the meantime, you know what.

The only thing good artists do is live their life and not live their life to put it on the screen. He's had such a rich life and I think all of these things have been applied to the film. I think that's why even though the movie deals with a lot of thorny questions, watching people do nasty things that we often do when we're in private, it's very human and very funny, he's a very, very funny guy, he's the best, um, I would like to thank you. to you too for coming to my Nina Haas fan club meeting today uh.

I have the t-shirts, yes we have the t-shirts and I'm not going to stop talking about her until people around the world know how special she is to this medium. of Cinema because she is very talented and she is a great collaborator, yes, she is a, I mean, her perspective on the character of Sharon Good, who is Lydia Tarr's life partner, was a complete revelation to Todd and I had opened up. a whole subterranean layer in the movie about who empowers the powerful, you know, and what Ben's kind of effort is for the external benefit of keeping the power system the way it is and it's not always the person at the top who is.

The most powerful is not the most public person in a relationship, who is often the most powerful, there is such a thing as a kingmaker, so he brought that aspect to Sharon and said, "I don't think she's completely innocent." um, and what was the conversation with her so lively? Yeah, I mean, she's such a wonderful team player and such an exquisite, amazing actress. I was so lucky to finally get to work with her, my favorite romantic lead ever. your career. It's definitely me too. I'll always appreciate that. I have to ask about the tar short that was in Berlin that was only going to be shown once and they didn't tell me anything.

Sorry, it was a long road, no, it was because Le. I said to Todd, you know, eventually, whatever the DVD sales equivalent is in the future, would we consider putting it on? It was what it was, it was part of the process, that's what it was, because it's a film about the process? , it's not a movie about Performance is not about the result, it's about the way we get to an end point, you know, because it works as if human beings are unfinished business, so we decided to try to have a fairly open process and it was great because a lot of the audience realizes a lot of the subtextual stuff that we filmed thinking that this probably won't make the final cut, but we're going to film it anyway and we had enough material for that to say.

Todd, why don't you turn this into a short film so that he and Monica Willie, one of the best editors in the world, make a short film out of it and then I'm trying to convince one thing that I've loved? There is a lot about you and many of us consider you one of the greatest actresses alive. You've been talking to them, yes, but what I love about you is that you take that responsibility seriously when I say that. Do you use your platform? Your state also to defend other actors. You talked a lot about the season.

Michelle me. Andrea promoted brother Tang. The way he wasn't nominated. Bringway's performance and decision to leave was one of the best performances this year. I mean, me. One of my favorite movies this year was Sanam Alice Diopin. I mean, both actresses were extraordinary. I had a joke with one of my colleagues here earlier in the season long before I thought we'd get Nina. Hassanway with me this year I thought this is a perfect world, but yes, you take that responsibility to defend them. I want to ask you if it will ever be achieved. Sometimes it will be frustrating that I think people and people refer to The public forget that this is an art form that it is something that they really care about, so there is the celebrity aspect that the public faces, but you, all of you , they are giving themselves to something they love, that is sometimes frustrating and gets lost in the messages.

When you take on a role like Lydia Tarr, they think it's like they see the front of it, like okay, now you got an Oscar for it, but you believed in the project, you believed in the movie, you believed in the vision of Todd Field. that what he had to say is ever lost, look, I think it's wonderful when the risks, the creative risks that you take, are recognized or rewarded or that, um, that, and you know, both Todd and I really we respect and value that relationship with an audience, um, and you know people realize that audiences realize things that you could only have dreamed they would realize, that's really gratifying and when different groups of critics or industry groups recognize that work which is wonderful, but in the process of making it and I suppose this is the same for all films that have been celebrated or perhaps celebrated in the future because not all films find their audience immediately , you know, while you say, that's what these libraries are for. online and you know that actually, you know you'll discover movies later that didn't necessarily surface that particular year, that's Justice for Bandits, by the way, yeah, but you know, you can't in the process.

I think a movie that you're going to go through is something that feels like you're in the process of making it, you know you're on the edge of a cliff in some ways, you know that when you're risking something that you might not, you might not. you are. able to achieve this, you know, like being on the podium in front of the Dresden Philharmonic, it's like this doesn't work, you know? So it's a dance that's not only done with the cast members and, of course, the director and the cinematographer, but also with but with the crew, you know, and I felt like maybe it was coming out of the pandemic. , but I felt like we were all very united and on that same adventure and, um, I think it's a surprising and wonderful pleasure to be.

Able to speak and dialogue with an audience about something you have been passionate about, but does that answer your question? That? You know? Why do you ask him? When people talk about what you do and what other actors do in such a superficial way, without seeing Tina, as I think you see, acting as art, that's an art form for you, whereas I think it's a empathetic art form and I think you look like me. I think there are so many different types of actors and processes, as well as genres and films, and if you look at this here, there's such an eclectic variety of visions, you know, and I think that when they're all together and they're meant to make a homogeneous whole that's a a little depressing because their ambitions are tremendously different, you know, and there's no actor, there's no director, there's no movie, it's just that my personal taste is tremendously eclectic, you know, um, and then, um, no, I.

I mean, I think it's probably to be expected because you know, sometimes the way we interact because there's so much to do, there's so many worries, some of us we can't delve into everything, sometimes we have to take a look. conversation and, but I mean what about this film in particular, you know, in the hands of Todd Field, I think it will stand the test of time for people who haven't had a chance to see it seriously and experience the sound in this. The film is so extraordinary that we hope to have the opportunity to do it in the future.

You know, sure, thanks for that. I'm going to touch on one more thing about you

winning

an Oscar this year, other than it being your third one. Like the

nine

-year

prophecy

that we believe Cate Blanchett only wins the Oscars every

nine

years, so if you win this year, know that you're free and very lucky for the next nine years, but without looking at all your Oscar nominations . Elizabeth The Aviator, which you won with sports actress notes on a scandal that is quietly one of my top three. Like, that's right, I'm not there and Elizabeth the Golden Age Blue Jasmine Carol and now tar uh, very few people will know what.

It feels like getting an Oscar nomination, let alone having an Oscar. I know you've expressed gratitude for receiving this from your peers and feeling dishonored, what does it feel like to continue down that path?way?Because Hollywood used to have the idea that women stopped being interesting after a certain age, they didn't make movies or give great roles to women over a certain age and now you're continually killing it and I've seen a change in that industry Do you feel that too? We're still talking about it, yeah, right, but if you know, you look at the SAG

awards

this year, I mean Jamie Lee Curtis Michelle, you know so many women, uh They were up there, I've had long illustrious careers and I'm very grateful to the women who came before me, who have been pioneers, you know, Jane Fonders, Meryl Streeps, you know, um, they live every month, you know everyone. different cultures, you know Helen Mirren and Judy Dench, you know we're talking about Judy and they really have continually pushed the boundaries and supported the women that were beneath them, but also the fact that you're gone, you have to show my female show Runners producers producers directors it's just that, um, I hope that in five years it will be a normal thing, but unfortunately I think you know, and particularly speaking of tar in the world of classical music, being a woman is still considered a political act.

We're still commenting on it, you know, and I hope we get to the point where there's nothing special about it, you know? But my concern is also not just the pointy end, the end of the performance. I think it's also making sure that the teams are diverse not only culturally and from a gender standpoint but also generationally, yeah, you know, I think it's very important that generationally, I mean, there's a lot of that kind of division. generational and the power of people late in their career versus the powerlessness that people early in their career are expected to have or can have in relation to that, that's very much alive in the film, so I think yeah , that generational exchange of goods.

I think it's really important that Kate Blanchard is the Oscar-nominated star of Tar, the film was now playing on Peacock Foreign.