The two-time Oscar winner arrived in Rome for the Italian premiere of her latest movie, The House with a Clock in Its Walls. She also participated in ‘CloseEncounter,’ a discussion at the 13th Rome Film Festival that will continue till October 28.
Cate Blanchett, who is a seven-time Academy Award nominee and won two Oscars for her roles in The Aviator (2004) and Blue Jasmine (2013), was in Rome for the premiere of her latest movie, The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Blanchett was also a part of one of the Rome Film Festival’s discussion, ‘Close Encounter’ where she spoke about her life’s work as an actress and a humanitarian – she has been a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since 2016.
In the recent past, Hollywood has been criticized for giving LGBTQ roles to straight actors - one case in point is Scarlett Johansson who faced backlash on accepting the role of a transgender in a film and ultimately dropped out of it. However, Blanchett, who played a lesbian in 2015’s Carol, brought this issue up during the discussion and defended straight actors playing gay characters.
“When looking at footage from Todd Haynes’ Carol, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel about a forbidden love affair between two women, she said she had never been asked more questions about her sexuality than when she played a lesbian character,” noted The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Blanchett, this defies the whole point of acting. “I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience,” she said. “I think reality television and all that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character.”
Apart from this, Blanchett spoke about her latest film, The House with a Clock in its Walls, which has been directed by Eli Roth. The film follows the story of a young orphan in a magical mansion, surrounded by a friendly witch and a warlock, who accidentally releases an evil force that could end the world. Blanchett essays a gray-haired witch in the film and said that if she had any magical powers in real, she “would make sure that everyone of the age 18 and up registers to vote in the American midterm elections.”
Cate Blanchett also spoke about her upcoming film Lucy & Desi, which is currently being written by Aaron Sorkin. Talking about how she would portray Lucille Ball in the film, the actor responded, “I’ve long been obsessed by Lucille Ball. Who hasn’t? I mean she’s not only as an actress, as a comedian, but as a producer, as a parent, as a force of nature within Hollywood.”
She further said, “It’s a work in progress, but one I am very excited about.”
Coming back to her latest film, Blanchett talked about the film’s hopeful takeaway and shared, “Alchemy is all about changing lead into gold. The idea of that being a metaphor for now is I think a really exciting one. We don’t have to remain in a place of stasis. We can actually change and transform into something else. I think that’s a very positive message for children.”
