Cate Blanchett covers the new issue of Porter Magazine (it’s #6 for those of you who care). I’ve been DYING to see some Blanchett. I’m been missing her so much. I got spoiled last year, seeing her at so many events while she supported what turned out to be her Oscar-winning turn in Blue Jasmine. But since the Oscars, Cate went back underground. We’ve barely seen her in months! So, yes, let’s end our year with some Blanchett Love. As for the Porter photoshoot… it’s not great. I need to see more of her face! And that rose petal photo just looks weird. Some highlights from the interview:
She feels judged by the ‘mummy mafia’ in Sydney: “You know there’s an extra judgment. You know they’re really observing how you parent. They don’t know that you cram everything in to make space for your kids like any working parent. Playing the lead in a film where you shoot for three months away from home is not an easy thing for me when my children are in school and my husband is running a theatre company. They assume you have a nanny and a driver and a chef. Who gives a sh-t whether I do or not? The fact is I don’t, but you know there is a certain circle of people – and we all get insecure – who then ask, ‘Why can’t she brush her hair?’ You just have to shrug that off.”
But she’s not a big tabloid target: “We’re really boring. We’ve got three kids; I’m not married to an actor. No one’s interested in us, and that’s part of the reason why we live here — because nobody gives a s–t.”
On Emma Watson’s UN speech about feminism: “I was so f–king proud of Emma Watson’s speech at the UN. It was brilliant, such an incredible use of her airspace, and really passionate. It was fantastic.”
On the hacking of private photos: “It’s horrendous. But there’s hope. There are a lot of things happening in an international sphere, and there are enough women with enough clout to make those shifts happen. Enough is enough. And I hope the Emma Watsons of this world are going to say, ‘F—k it.’”
Social media: “I’m really fascinated by what we accept and what we ignore and how we process the white noise being shoveled down our throats. It used to be you’d go to the hairdressers and pick up those evil magazines and feel dirty. It’s like watching too much p0rn, I guess.”
[From Porter via The Daily Mail]
Wow, Cate cursed up a storm in this interview. Even though she’s the picture of untouchable elegance on the red carpet, I’ve always sort of imagined that Cate is a fun person to be around. Like, she probably enjoys a good steak and a beer and she loves talking sh-t about people. I would assume that the Mummy Mafia of Sydney isn’t so much “judging” Cate as worshipping her from a distance. Like, if I saw Cate with unkempt hair and dirty jeans, I would just assume that look was going to be HUGE in the coming months.
Oh, and Cate plays the evil stepmother in the new live-action Cinderella. This movie looks like such a mess, but Cate as the evil stepmother? Funny.
Photos courtesy of PORTER Magazine.
In Australia we don’t batter an eyelid to language like that. It’s not cursing it’s just speaking.
Too f*#^ng right! (Kiwi here 😜)
Clearly I need to live in Australia. My American foul mouth is under restrictions here in merry ol’ England.
We had a meeting at work about how we had to make sure we weren’t hiring d*ckheads. The big boss said it too and agreed.
Rubbish – the Brits are the best par excellance at swearing – you are just hanging out with the wrong people – Yanks I find completely horrified by my swearing.
Speaking as a half Irish person born and raised in London I’d say swearing is also speaking in both places. I’ve just got back from Ireland and creative swearing is like an art form.
As a Slavic person, I find you English-speaking people and your little curses very cute 😀
Yup. We love a good swear word!
Blah, I also feel judged by the ‘mummy mafia’ but part of that is the social construct we’re living in. Raising two daughters to escape the patriarchy is my main goal, but the odds seem stacked against me trying to do the first part from home. My eldest already thinks ‘daddy works and mommy just stays home.’ Ungrateful little s****. 😉 Seriously, though, I judge her more for her connection to Woody Allen. She is raising sons, and the breakdown of sexism and violence against women starts with her example to them, as well as their father’s.
Agreed. I am raising a son and trying to make him a feminist. It’s been hard work because there is so much in the way of subconscious bias in our society that one doesn’t account for. I just hope he becomes a better man than what I saw growing up.
And, yes, it’s amazing how little hate Cate gets for working — proudly, I might add — with the “great” Woody Allen. I’ve always looked at her sideways since then.
I think she gets a lot of hate for working with Woody Allen. Every single thing written about her has a lot of people shading her, but the likes of Hugh Jackman, Tom Hiddleston, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Colin Farrell, Ewen MacGregor, Naomi Watts, Jimmy Fallon, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Steve Carell, Helen Hunt, John Cusack, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Norton, Drew Barrymore, Natalie Portman, Robin Williams, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Garner, Charlize Theron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Uma Thurman, Hugh Grant, Sean Penn, Colin Firth get a free pass with no mention of Woody Allen at any time they are in the papers.
SuePerb (LOVE the name, btw) – I only acquaint her with the perv because the allegations came up anew at the time Blue Jasmine was up for an Oscar. But agreed, all of the actors who are affiliated/have worked with WA should be similarly side-eyed.
@Sueperb I am judging the hell out of those people. Especially those with enough cloud to be able to choose their projects.
But you do just stay home.
If you want to raise your daughters to escape the patriarchy, why not try supporting yourself without sponging off a man and set an example?
I dislike the lead in Cinderella. She should be one of the stepsister.
I agree, I will try to reserve judgement until I see it, but I thought they should have cast Holliday Grainger as Cinderella rather than a stepsister. Lily James is very pretty, but she looks almost sly which I think would suit the stepsister role better.
Also, what did they do to Richard Madden’s glorious curls?
I think she’s beautiful, but I don’t get the love of her personality. Sorry. Maybe because of her great love for Woody Allen, I see her in a negative light. She just comes across to me as thinking everyone should accept anything she does without question because she does it. I don’t get where she seems “fun to be around.” Nothing about her seems light or self-deprecating or fun at all. I swear at times, but I think swearing in an interview is sort of coarse and tacky. Not a fan. In case you didn’t get the subtle hints.
I think she is beautiful and a good actress, but as a person she completely lost me with Woody Allen.
I agree, I’ve thought that about her since before the whole Woody Allen thing.
I, too, lost my affection for her. The WA connection most certainly, but her “I Can’t Care About That” attitude seems to have a “Because I Am on a Higher Plane” subtext.
Hi Goodnames, I hope you’re well.. and yeah, I still like her as an actress but I tend to shy away from her interviews.
Hi, blue marie, yes I’m well, thank you. It’s SO nice to see you back. You were greatly missed. I hope you are well, too.
I agree she looks attractive here, but if her name hadn’t been attached to the article, I’d have had no idea it was Cate Blanchett. What she’s done to her face….ugh.
I don’t believe the so-called “mummy mafia” of Sydney gives a toss about whether she works, parents “properly” or appears in public with un-brushed hair. We do, however, have a very low tolerance for wankers and paedophiles, and those who hang out, work or associate with them in any capacity, and who fail to speak out about their vile behaviours…
Maybe they’re judging her for the company she keeps. I know I do
Ha! Well, said. Agreed.
“Judged by the mummy mafia” is so strange to me. I don’t have kids.. but the vast majority of my friends and co workers do.. So I can honestly say I can only count a handful of women I know that don’t work.
My mother, aunts, grandmother all the women in my family worked.. I just find that whole judging mommies that work so strange.
I don’t know any women that dosen’t work, so I agree. But I live Scandinavia our society is not designed to stay at home mothers.
Dingo – That’s one of the many reasons I love Scandinavia and wish to live there!
Lisa – I don’t really understand the judgments against working mothers either. It doesn’t make sense to rip apart half of society with critiques to her parenting, having children is hard enough.
It’s similar here, the very few stay at home mums I know aren’t stay at home mums by choice, and I’ve never seen any judgement.
What is going on with that cover photo? Why are they covering her perfect skin?
I’m wondering what’s going on with her hairline in the rose petal picture??? Photoshop accident? Huge patch of missing hair in the front? It looks bizarre…
“You know there’s an extra judgment. You know they’re really observing how you parent. They don’t know that you cram everything in to make space for your kids like any working parent. Playing the lead in a film where you shoot for three months away from home is not an easy thing for me when my children are in school and my husband is running a theatre company.”
The crucial difference being, of course, that she could never work another day and still be able to raise her sons in great luxury. Work for someone of Cate’s immense wealth is more like a hobby than what most of us would call work.
So, no, Cate, you’re not ‘like any working parent’.
I love Cate as much as anyone else, but I’m sorry to say she comes across as yet another out of touch celeb here. Shame, really.
Huh. So when you’re filthy rich, your hard work has less value than that of someone who is not so well off? Many millionaires just want to work. They could fall back on their immense wealth, but they don’t want to. I greatly dislike this notion that when you’re rich, your work is more like a ‘hobby’. It’s denigrating and dismissive. I also dislike the idea that money solves everything, and this is coming from a person who lives well below the poverty line.
”Huh. So when you’re filthy rich, your hard work has less value than that of someone who is not so well off?”
Where did I say that?
” Many millionaires just want to work. They could fall back on their immense wealth, but they don’t want to.”
Thank you. You’ve just made my point for me. They work because they WANT to. For most people, work is not a choice but a necessity – if they don’t work, the mortgage doesn’t get paid, the kids’ school uniforms can’t be bought etc. So yes, if someone works not because they in any way need the money, but simply because they want to, then yes, work is a hobby of sorts. Nothing wrong with that – just don’t claim you’re like ‘any other working parent’ because you most certainly are not.
”I also dislike the idea that money solves everything,”
Again, where did I say that?
I’m simply pointing out that a multi millionaire who gets paid more for a few months’ work than most people could earn in a lifetime is NOT ‘just like any working parent’, and it’s foolish for her to pretend that she is.
I think Shijel’s point is that you’re minimizing or devaluing the work of someone who is wealthy simply because they have the option to not work and it’s a bit unfair.
Personally, I greatly commend the work of Bill and Melinda’s Gates Foundation or Warren Buffet, who donated $2.8B to five charities last year.
Regardless of the fact that working is not a necessity for them, I still value and appreciate the fact that they devote so much time and money to making the world a better place for others.
The changes they make for society are more impactful on a macro level than Jane Johnson working at an office park so that she can feed her kids. No disrespect to Mrs. Johnson, but my point is that there IS a role in our society for wealthy people who continue to work–it’s not always as self-serving and indulgent as you seem to think it is.
”I think Shijel’s point is that you’re minimizing or devaluing the work of someone who is wealthy simply because they have the option to not work and it’s a bit unfair.”
It might be her ‘point of view’ but it’s got nothing to do with what I wrote. I’m not ‘minimising’ the value of Cate’s work – I’m a huge fan of her acting. I’m simply saying that she’s being highly disingenuous – at the very least – to portray herself as ‘just like any working parent’ when she is worth millions and could choose never to work another day in her life. That is not the case for the vast majority of working parents. They HAVE to work or else the bills don’t get paid. It’s a fairly obvious distinction, and the fact that Cate doesn’t seem to see it makes me think that, like so many celebs – even those who like to think of themselves as ‘grounded’ – she’s out of touch with everyday realities for most people.
”it’s not always as self-serving and indulgent as you seem to think it is. ”
Again, you’re completely misinterpreting what I wrote. I never said there was anything ‘self-serving and indulgent’ about choosing to work when you have no financial need to do so. I just said that it’s a CHOICE – a choice which is not available to the overwhelming majority of people. I hope Cate continues to work for the rest of her life, as I love her acting. But it would be nice if she could just acknowledge how very privileged she is to be doing a job that she loves and that pays so tremendously well, rather than pulling that Kate Winsletesque ”I’m just an ordinary working mum’ schtick.
“The crucial difference being, of course, that she could never work another day and still be able to raise her sons in great luxury. Work for someone of Cate’s immense wealth is more like a hobby than what most of us would call work. ”
Calling someone’s job a “hobby” is reducing it to something that is fun and unnecessary. It makes it seem like it’s something they do in their spare time rather than something they passionately devote most of their day towards.
I appreciate the extra elucidation with your subsequent posts, but you DID minimize wealthy people’s professions, whether that was your intention or not.
“I just said that it’s a CHOICE – a choice which is not available to the overwhelming majority of people.”
Having children is also a CHOICE, owning a house is a CHOICE, and living a certain lifestyle is a CHOICE. No one is forcing anyone else to procreate or to work, but we all make decisions for what is best for each of us and the financial support that those decisions require is part of the plan.
Never once did Blanchett say that she’s the same as every other working mother out there and I just don’t see why it’s “disingenuous” for her to say that it sucks to be judged by other mothers for having a job.
Personally, I’ve seen insane judgment from The Mommy Police around here many times and I think it’s ridiculous. Hell, I even see a lot of it in this comment thread right now……
”Calling someone’s job a “hobby” is reducing it to something that is fun and unnecessary. ”
And when you’re a multi-millionaire who chooses to work, your work is also fun and unneccessary. Like I said, I love Cate, but she’s making films because she wants to, not for the good of humanity.
”It makes it seem like it’s something they do in their spare time rather than something they passionately devote most of their day towards.”
My point – which I thought I’d already made quite clear – is that someone of Blanchett’s wealth works because she enjoys it. The huge majority of people work – often at jobs they dislike – because they have to. So yes, in that sense, work for her IS more like a hobby than what most of us would call work. That’s fine – I never once said she should give up work. All I’m saying is that ‘work’ for Blanchett has a very different meaning than it does for other mothers, and non-mothers, working in a dull 9 to 5 office job, or going out at night to clean offices, and it wouldn’t hurt for her to acknowledge that no, she isn’t ”like any working parent”.
”Having children is also a CHOICE, owning a house is a CHOICE, and living a certain lifestyle is a CHOICE. No one is forcing anyone else to procreate or to work, ”
Having children is a choice, certainly – and I’d be the first to be critical of mothers who complain about how tough being a parent is, when they chose that lifestyle – but working and having to put a roof over one’s head (whether by renting or buying a place) isn’t a choice, at least not for most of us. Blanchett could never do another film or perfume ad and not notice the difference to her standard of living. For most people, if they’re out of work for even one month, they’ll start to feel the pinch. Bit of a difference.
”Never once did Blanchett say that she’s the same as every other working mother out there”
She quite clearly did, and very specifically so:
”They don’t know that you cram everything in to make space for your kids like any working parent. ”
I totally agree with you.
Saying how hard it is to be away from your kids for months when you are working is silly when you don’t have to be. She doesn’t have to work like most parents do to make sure her kids have a home and food on the table. If she wanted to stay home with her kids she could do it. She chooses not to and that is obviously her right, but she should own it and say that my work is important to me and makes me happy etc. Comparing herself to “normal” working parents is dishonest. Most of my friends who have kids would have loved to stay home longer with their children but it just wasn’t financially possible for them. I don’t think they relate with Cate in this at all.
It looks like you just proved Blanchett’s point about her feeling that “extra judgement.”
Sure, she makes more money with her job than the so-called “Average Joe” but we don’t know what she actually uses her money for. And what exactly are your parameters for calling someone’s wealth “immense?” And if her wealth actually is “immense” how do you think she got it? She worked for it! It didn’t just fall in her lap like an inheritance or lottery winnings. She worked for years to gain the visibility in the film industry so that she would be an actor that producers and directors are eager to hire and that audiences are willing to spend money to watch. And yes, she earns money from endorsement deals but she had to get to the level of being both well-liked and well-known to get those endorsement deals in the first place. As for the paychecks she earns, she probably doesn’t keep a lot of the money. If she’s like most actors, after taxes and payments to her publicist, her manager, her agent, and possibly a lawyer and a stylist, she’s lucky if she keeps 40% of her paycheck. Like I said, we don’t know how she uses her money.
Whatever her level of income, she has the same 24 hours in each day that everyone in the world has to fit in her obligations to work and to family. You seem to be judging her for what you perceive her life to be (as she says the “mummy mafia” in Sydney are doing) when she actually *knows* exactly what her life is like.
Thank you Boxy Lady.
People talking about her wealth, AS IF, she inherited it or won it in a state lottery really cheese me off.
You didn’t pick a career that remunerates as highly as the top end of Cate’s career.
Cate’s chosen profession is 90% failure and those that do make it to the top end are very lucky to be there.
That’s not the same as most careers for regular people where they can hope to make steady money over a long period of time.
She hustled to get to the top, so to blast her for her wealth as though she was born with a silver spoon is ridiculous.
I really used to like her but after the Woody Allen story she has lost me forever.
I live in one of the suburbs close to Cate Blanchett. My son goes to school in the suburb she lives in. I know the schools her sons go to. I know some of the mothers Cate would be putting under that ‘mummy mafia’ banner. One of my best friend’s son is friends with Cate’s eldest boy. I say to Cate in the nicest way possible: stuff you!! I wouldn’t want to read about myself the way Cate has described these women. She is the one being judgemental.
Oh please do say!
It’s a gossip site..we have to know! 🙂
Right? Like you’re a bunch of 1950s throwbacks who think all mothers should stay at home? I thought that was so condescending, too. Maybe they’re judging you because you come across as a smug jerk, not because you work.
Please. Sydney is FULL of judgmental mothers. You get judged for being a stay-at-home mum and you get judged for being a working mum. If she wants to vent about some hostility she’s felt and call out the ridiculousness of it, then power to her.
Maybe they judge her for worshipping a man who sexually molested his own daughter and married his girlfriend’s daughter. I certainly do.
at first i thought “mummy mafia” as in Nefertiti b!tch-fest, spearing people in the face and checking names. while King Tut conducts backdoor trade of bandages that have rolled off the backs of chariots.
being an actor or actress is hard to compare to a regular working parent. most parents that work arent gone for three months. thats a very long time, plus promoting a movie across the world also takes a couple of weeks.
thats not like working 9-5 and being there in the morning and evening and being judged for that, people judge her for being a long time away from home. And she is no single parent who has to do this to feed the family.
if she does two of those movies plus promoting them plus rehearsales and pre production she’ll be away for more than half a year. its fine if she is being judged for that.
Who cares what other mothers think? According to them you can’t possibly do anything right. Working moms are selfish, stay at home moms are lazy, childfree people are also selfish, if you don’t breast feed that’s a problem, if you choose circumcision people tear your head off over that too. Everyone is too damn judgemental. Just do your thing, Cate, in whatever way you please.
Too right! No matter what you do, someone (some mom) out there will have a sniffy opinion about it. Just do what is right by you and works for your family. Personally I can’t imagine being a SAHM. I work part time, and having a separate life apart from my kids and intellectual fulfillment through work makes me a better mom for them. If you’re satisfied being a SAHM then more power to you! Minding children all day is much harder than going to work IMHO. Plus for some it’s not a choice: you work cause you need the money.
It seems though that Cate’s comments have an undercurrent of “the best defense is a good offense.” I get the impression she just assumed the other parents were going to be judgy of her and went on the offense by calling them out before they did anything to snub her. If Cate Blanchett rocked up to my kid’s school I’d be too intimidated to talk to her; maybe that’s why she feels snubbed.
Yay for potty mouths! As for the judgement thing, I felt that while working in an office with a bunch other mom’s. It’s not fun. In fact, it made me feel like total dog shi$t. Not cool at all no matter who you are. It’s tough enough trying to hold it all together without people judging you. That being said, if she can afford to hire help I’m curious why she doesn’t?
No sweetie, we judge you for your defense of working with the Woody Allen cretin.
As if that is something for her to be ashamed of. Personally, I think this “guilty by association” (and in this case, regardless of own’s opinions on it, there is not verified guilt per se) is completely notionless and simplistic as you cannot be hold responsible for others actions, but I think nowadays is very common in media infested cases like this. So I never really understood “the shame on you Cate speech” some were echoing earlier this year and still do. But I guess some disagree with this.
I returned to work after three months. and if I get one more woman sucking her breath in when I say how old my daughter is I will not be responsible for my actions. We each and every one of us are just trying to do our best so shut the f&*k up or f€%k the F#*k off.
I don’t know… I think that women who judge the choices of other women are going to be judgemental about everything else as well.
finally got to watch that trailer. not impressed 🙁 and here i had such high hopes.
Drew Barrymore is my forever cinderella.
Sometimes, as a woman, I feel like there is something wrong with me. Start with the fact that I grew up in the 1960’s – very different time than now. Mostly, I think feminism is a load of crap. But I think that probably because I was brought up in a time where I was raised to think I can do whatever I want…period. I have never – not a single time in my life – felt subjugated by a man and whenever I faced a man who had a rather paternalistic (to the point of patronizing) attitude, I’ve shut it down. I can be scary and people IRL who know me know 1) never EVER get into an argument with me; and 2) if you do, you’ll lose. I think it’s because I’ve always had it in my head that women are, quite actually, the stronger sex. Not physically and maybe not emotionally (or maybe so), but definitely mentally. Men are simple creature (God love them – I certainly do) but they really are simple. When they try to be complex and show their “feminine side” – they annoy me. If I want a complex man with a feminine side, I’ll choose a gay man as a friend – for which I have many and they are THE best (again, an oddity for a woman who is a conservative, but let’s not eschew stereotypes, please). I like manly men; the simple creatures I know how to deal with. And I like my women friends – of whom I have only a handful – to be of the Katharine Hepburn breed. I like my women friends to be broads, to be dames to be STRONG. This, of course, also probably comes from a lifetime of being a sailboat racer – a sport generally dominated by men – and so I’ve learned to hold my own on a crew full of men and be FULLY accepted. (Speaking of cussing, as a sailor, my mouth is as ripe as it comes). I drink, I smoke, I tell raunchy jokes….guys love me, strong women love me….and yet, I could walk into a biker bar (just as an example) and carry myself so ladylike as to make even the most hardened-man apologize for so much as uttering the word “damn” in front of me. That is power. So as to “feminism” – as a cause – it’s crap. BE YOUR OWN WOMAN!! It’s not a movement…it’s a backbone, it’s an intellect, it’s a command and confidence in who you are as a human being. The fact that you have a set of boobs and a vagina is both irrelevant and a center of power. Make men uncomfortable (I live for that). Be a force to be reckoned with. Be yourself and never EVER apologize for it.
Also born in 60’s. Not raised this way, but think similar.
Inspiring way to start the morning!
I think the mama mafia is self created and exists in our heads. Its called guilt, self inflicted and totally unnecessary guilt unless you’re a crack mama.
Oh, come on. You get judged no matter what choices you make as a mother! I would love to be in her situation — extremely wealthy and choosing to work for the joy of it.
As it is, I’m a SAHM (though I’d rather be working; husband is military with constantly rotating schedule, oldest son is special needs, his school is a 1-hr roundtrip Mon-Thurs along with speech therapy throughout the week), and the stuff you hear about SAHMs is obnoxious. That you’re lazy, that you’re mooching off your partner, that “I would never put my financial well-being in the hands of a person that could divorce me at any time!”. And on, and on. Working mothers get different, but no less vitriolic garbage thrown their way. As a mom, you can’t do anything without someone having something nasty to say about it. You just have to hold your head up and ignore it. Life’s hard enough as it is!