This cover is crazy, right? This is supposed to be Cate Blanchett on the April cover of Vogue Australia. It looks nothing like her. Well… it looks like a hybrid of Cate, Elizabeth Banks and Patricia Arquette. Is it the hat? Is it the lighting? Is it Photoshop? Or has Cate had some work done? She looks consistently un-Cate-like in all of the photos from the shoot, so I don’t know what to tell you. I hope she hasn’t had work done. She looked normal enough when she was promoting Cinderella a few weeks ago, so I have to think it’s a combination of hat, Photoshop and lighting. As for the Vogue interview, there are a few highlights:

Being a mother: “Children certainly teach one about compromise. I think before having children the idea of compromise rubbed shoulders with weakness or deception in some way. Children are spirited, passionate, political, demanding. They are also heartbreaking. They constantly extend parents and so parents are constantly confronted with their failures, don’t you think? I’d rather presently live life this way than not.”

Her love of the theater: “Right before going on stage I stand on my toes [and] focus on finding a physical balance. I remember my first line and focus on the other actors. The rest is chance. That’s what’s exhilarating about it. You honestly risk not knowing which way it’s going to fall out there. I have a profound sense of audience: who is this for? Is it reaching them? Is it connecting or having any resonance? But when making a work I cannot, simply cannot, care what people think, or how the work will be perceived, if it will be considered ‘good’ or ‘bad’.”

Her style rule: “Listen: Don’t wear tie-dye. Ever.”

[From Vogue Australia via News.com.au]

Hm… “don’t wear tie-dye” is a decent enough style rule. But I suspect Cate has many more rules to live by and she’s just keeping them to herself. What can we learn from Cate’s style? “Never be afraid of bold jewelry.” And “Take the time to properly tailor your clothes.”

As for her kids… as we learned more than a week ago, Cate and her husband Andrew Upton adopted a baby girl. They named her Edith Vivian Patricia Upton (I have to think those are family names). Cate just confirmed that Edith was actually adopted in America, not Australia. She was given a chance to speak out about Australia’s seemingly arcane adoption laws and regulations and she said, “I think it is … well I haven’t been through it here. It was in the United States. There’s a lot of children out there that don’t have the good fortune of our biological children so it’s lovely to welcome a little girl. We’re besotted.” I love the word “besotted”. Americans don’t use that word enough.

Photos courtesy of Vogue Australia.