Over turmeric tea one evening, double Oscar winner Cate Blanchett talks about the secret of relationships and how to survive the current news cycle. The answer? Jump into the ice…
Cate Blanchett saw in the New Year in the Arctic, with her husband and four children, by cutting a hole in the ice and jumping in. It was -30C and she wore a “funny hat” for the cold and, “It was fabulous,” because, she says, “Everything… paused.” It’s February now, and the restaurant near the river is just beginning to fill with evening diners when Blanchett slides between the tables in her tartan “chicken feeding coat” and striped shirt, collar popped. “Who are they murdering out the back?” she shouts – the noise of dough being pounded in the kitchen sounds as if they’re beating somebody to death and means we need to lean in, over her pot of turmeric tea. “I always thought, if the acting thing didn’t work out, which it still might not, I would love to be a Foley artist,” creating sound effects for film, smashing watermelons, clicking cups. “Yes, I can burp to order.” Oh? “Not fart, though. One of my primary school friends, vomiting sounds was her trick. Are you any good at noises?” I attempt, quite sweetly, a generic beatbox. “That sounded slightly like a kangaroo. I’ve been away from Australia a long time, though, so…”….
Blanchett came straight to the restaurant from a rehearsal room. She’s working on a stage production of The Seagull with a cast that includes Tom Burke, who also stars in her new film, Black Bag. The thing about Blanchett, says Burke, is, “She’s not a soloist. Even though she, of course, has the talent, charisma and skill set to be exactly that. She wants to be part of the band.” Black Bag is a spy thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh in which Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play married intelligence agents whose loyalty to each other is tested by a case – the black bag is the suitcase required for a covert job you can’t tell anyone about, even your husband…..