Cate Blanchett has been making the rounds promoting her first major radio play, an adaptation of Wallace Shawn's The Fever airing on BBC Radio 4, though she surprised the UK's Radio Times during a recent interview in which she announced her future plans, reports the Guardian. "Cate Blanchett, actress," the 55-year-old Lord of the Rings and Black Bag star replied to her interviewer when asked to introduce herself at the beginning of the chat, though she paused when listing her occupation. "I did, didn't I?" Blanchett acknowledged when asked about that pause. "It's because I'm giving up."
Not on life, but on acting, Blanchett went on to explain, noting that "my family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting." That's because there are "a lot of things I want to do with my life," Blanchett added. The mom of four doesn't get into what exactly those things are, but she does dish about some other stuff:
- Herself: "No one is more boring to me than myself and I find other people much more interesting. I find myself profoundly dull."
- More self-reflection: "I've always felt like I'm on the periphery of things, so I'm always surprised when I belong anywhere. I go with curiosity into whatever environment that I'm in, not expecting to be accepted or welcomed. I've spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable."
- On acting: "You have to have this sort of sonic sweep, like a submarine, in terms of the quality of your listening and your presence. Theater lives or dies based on your connection to the audience and listening to how they're responding and trying to bring them with you, and also your connection with the ensemble that you're working with."
- And back to herself: "I think I'm quite pleasant in the rehearsal room. I'm much more unbearable in life."
- Comfort zone: One space that Blanchett says she's "obsessed" with—the inside of a car. "Often the most profound and intense and memorable conversations that I have with my children are in the car. There's a psychological cone, a collective cone, when you're all traveling together. It's the songs you sing on the way on holiday, the stories and the jokes you tell, and the radio you listen to."
Deadline notes that Blanchett's movie
The New Boy will be in theaters on May 23. She's also set to appear in at least two more upcoming films: the Zellner brothers'
Alpha Gang, and Jim Jarmusch's
Father, Mother, Sister, Brother. More
here. (More
Cate Blanchett stories.)
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