Time Out London 2004

Photos

Flight of Fantasy

Interview Christopher Memblade

To launch our ten-page special on Martin Scorsese's new Hollywood epic, 'The Aviator', Cate Blanchett reveals how she prepared for the role of Katharine Hepburn and poses for a series of classic photographs inspired by Hollywood's golden era. Elsewhere, we talk to Scorsese, biographer Charles Higham tells how his book made it to the big screen and we uncover the incomparably bizarre world of the real 'Aviator', Howard Hughes.

There is a commotion going on in Cate Blanchett's house. It's breakfast time in Sydney and her three-year-old son Dashiell has just painted a tiger face on his chest. Plates clatter noisily as Blanchett prepares the table; a kettle boils and a radio hums. It's a distinctly normal domestic scene. 'This is as good as it's going to get in terms of us trying to find a space to talk,' Blanchett says.

Such is the life of the 35-year-old Melbourne native, who went back to Australia this year to star in husband Andrew Upton's acclaimed adaptation of Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' for the Sydney Theatre Company. It’s a return to the Sydney Theatre Company. It's a return to the stage, where she first came to prominence in David Mamet's 'Oleanna' back in 1994. While in Sydney , she is taking the opportunity to shoot an Australian thriller -- Rowan Wood's 'Little Fish'.

'Well, you can call it a thriller if you like,' she says, 'but I think everything is so genre-defying these days you can't call anything just a thriller.'

This is a classic Blanchett response: edgy, considered, refusing cozy categorizations. Like many credible film actors who are performers first and celebrities second, Blanchett is not one to allow her audience access to her private life. So you don’t go into the cinema with any pre-conceived notion of what it will be like to see Blanchett playing Elizabeth I -- or WASP heiress Meredith in Minghella's 'The Talented Mr Ripley', or the Elf Queen in 'The Lord of the Rings'. There is something refreshingly anonymous about a Blanchett performance compared to, say, someone like Nicole Kidman, whom we know almost too much about. Blanchett, stripped of the blanket of fame, can disappear into a role -- something she does adroitly in her role as Katharine Hepburn in 'The Aviator', Scorsese's stunning new biopic of movie mogul Howard Hughes.

How did you find working with Scorsese on 'The Aviator'?

It was wonderful. He's so precise and clear as a director. I relish his perfectionism and his passion for celluloid is infections. And he is completely dedicated to his actors -- the performance is everything to him.

Did you do much research into Katharine Hepburn?

Firstly, I scoured all her films. Scorsese has an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema and part of the joy was rediscovering Hepburn and Cary Grant on the big screen at his place, analyzing performances which I’d only ever seen on the small screen. I read everything written about her. Lauren Bacall was generous with her memories and it was beguiling to be hearing about a friendship between two goddesses. The main thing she spoke about to me was the laughter. The big belly laughs. It was a fun time to be alive.

Were you intimidated by the prospect of trying to capture the spirit of Hepburn?

Well, she is beyond legendary as far as I was concerned, but sometimes fear is galvanizing. I knew I had a lot of work to do. To move beyond mimicry and cabaret impersonations and tap into her spirit and crate a character – and a full blooded one – that was the challenge.

Was it an emotionally draining role?

No, I was exhilarated by the challenge of the role. Leonardo DiCaprio played Hughes with such extreme passion. The scene where I’m trying to speak to him through the door of his editing suite (where Hughes remained for ten days during one of his worst bouts of obsessive compulsive disorder) was an extremely difficult one.

How was it to go from filming ‘The Aviator’ straight into ‘A Life Aquatic’ [Wes Anderson’s follow-up to ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ which stars Bill Murray as a renowned oceanographer]?

From the sublime to the ridiculous. ‘A Life Aquatic’ is quite surreal, it’s hard to describe it because it’s a Jacques Cousteau reverie after all. The difference in the experiences, the roles and the genre made the transition easier. It would have been harder, say, going from playing Katharine Hepburn to doing a similar role like Joan Crawford.

You’ve just finished ‘Hedda Gabler’, your firs play since David Hare’s ‘Plenty’ in London in 1999. Why that role?

In order to live, one does destroy, kill, maim and discard. They’re not particularly attractive human traits, but they’re definitely true and I feel Hedda resonates today with everything that is going on in the world.

Are you enjoying Australia?

I do love it, but many people are very saddened by the recent re-election of (Conservative) PM John Howard – what it condones. But one has to be optimistic because good things can come out of a frustration with an administration. It politicizes you.

Do you miss London?

Absolutely, I’m a freak because I love the cold! I miss Sadler’s Wells and dance theatre. When it excels it is like no other form – a gesture is able to dispense with the written word. I love DV8, Pina Bausch, Sanki Juto – if I could live again I’d be a bhuto dancer.

‘The Aviator’ is bound to be nominated for many awards and you’ll be in demand. How do you feel about the whole fame circus?

I love the whole froth and bubble of it – it’s fun as long as you’re not doing it every day. And as long as you’re not actually believing the hype. But like the whole community, I’d love for Marty to finally receive an Oscar. He’s an institution and a living breathing legend.

I don’t think people are that interested in my celebrity life. It’s fine to do those awards ceremonies, as long as you don’t do them all the time. It’s like everything – always in moderation. And you can’t say I don’t like a good fashion show! I did the Donna Karan advertising campaign last year. But now I have two children I’ve got the nesting instinct and don’t want to be away all of the time. I just did one day of promotion in LA for ‘The Life Aquatic’ and then I was back on a plane to Sydney for the Time Out shoot. I look like a silver screen goddess in the pictures? Splendid. We always like a bit of a silver screen goddess…