ENTERTAINMENT / Movies
Cate Blanchett evokes Hollywood era of old
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-12-13 10:29
Australian actress Cate Blanchett pauses during a news conference in
Sydney November 10, 2006.. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Tim Wimborne
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK - Days after playing an alluring English art teacher, actress
Cate Blanchett adopted a German accent to transform herself into an
enigmatic Second World War prostitute in a performance some liken to
Marlene Dietrich.
Such transition is not unusual for the Australian actress hailed for her
work ethic, intellect and cool charm emblematic of leading figures of a
Hollywood era long gone.
Film professionals say Blanchett, 37, who won a best supporting actress
Academy Award two years ago portraying Katharine Hepburn in "The
Aviator," has a long career ahead similar to some of Hollywood's greats.
She has three new roles touted as Oscar contenders: the already released
"Babel" opposite Brad Pitt, "The Good German" co-starring George Clooney
out this week and "Notes on a Scandal," in which she plays an art teacher
opposite Judi Dench due on Dec. 27.
"She seems sort of other-worldly," said Steven Soderbergh, director of
"The Good German," noting Blanchett's short preparation time for the film
shot in black and white in a tribute to 1940s Hollywood films including
"Casablanca."
"It seemed to appear just out of nowhere," Soderbergh said of her
performance while in New York to promote the movie. "I have never seen
anything like that."
Clooney told reporters she was "Spencer Tracy-like" for her ability to
slip in and out of character on set. And Variety said Blanchett "summons
shades of Dietrich, to be sure."
But the blond Blanchett told Reuters, "I had to use my own resources and
invent my own version, because what was the point of imitating Marlene
Dietrich, she does it perfectly herself."
ENDURANCE
While Blanchett has yet to achieve the status of a Dietrich or Garbo,
Soderbergh said her desire to play different characters would ensure a
long reign in movies.
"We are eventually going to compare other people to her," Soderbergh said
in an interview with Reuters.
Blanchett said playing opposite Dench, 72, in "Notes on a Scandal" was a
career highlight.
Looking at the endurance of the respected British actress, Blanchett said
she would be satisfied "if I can have the diversity and length of her
career and half of her talent," but viewed her own career choices as
"erratic and random."
"I'd like to say I have a five-year plan but I am not that Stalin-esque,"
she said.
But just as Blanchett cemented a place opposite leading men such as Pitt
and Clooney, she recently announced she will take over running the Sydney
Theatre Company starting on a three-year basis with playwright husband
Andrew Upton in 2008.
Blanchett doesn't care to explain the move to those obsessed with making
big-budget Hollywood films. "Popcorn films and big paychecks are not
necessarily things I have done," she said, and called the move her
biggest opportunity so far.
"After the announcement people were talking about what some enormous
sacrifice we were making," said Blanchett. "I feel galvanized by it."
After her recent theater-directing debut with the company, she said will
continue to make films through a clause in her contract that allows her
to take a three month break per year.
The Melbourne-born mother of two said her return to Australia was a
natural calling -- "it is home" -- after living in England where "whilst
one can reference the culture, you are not culpable for it in the same
way."
As for any Oscar buzz, Blanchett doesn't feel entitled to win nor look at
her past performances. "I inevitably just see the holes," she said. "I
don't analyze it, I don't look backwards, I just move forwards."
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