Hollywood A-lister Cate Blanchett has announced she has plans of “giving up” acting to pursue other things “with [her] life”.
In an interview with British entertainment publication Radio Times this week, the 55-year old actor said she was “serious” about giving up acting, adding:
“My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting…[there are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”
Describing her thoughts about her celebrity status, the two-time Oscar winner said she is uncomfortable with fame and does not enjoy being interviewed.
“No one is more boring to me than myself and I find other people much more interesting,” she said. “I find myself profoundly dull … When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicised, they sound really loud. I’m not that person.”
“I’ve always felt like I’m on the periphery of things, so I’m always surprised when I belong anywhere,” she continued. “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.”
Blanchett was being interviewed as part of her promotional tour for her forthcoming and first-ever audioplay, The Fever, which will premiere live on air on BBC Radio 4 this weekend.
The play is an adaptation of Wallace Shawn’s 1991 award-winning play which follows an unnamed woman as she travels to a civil war-torn country and undergoes a political and spiritual enlightenment.
Throughout her decades long career, the mother of four has kept busy. She recently wrapped a 6-week long run on stage at London’s Barbican Theatre of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, where she played the character of Arkadina.
Her most recent major screen appearance was in Steven Soderbergh’s thiller Black Bag, alongside Michael Fassbender, which was released in March.
She is also set to appear in Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy, playing a renegade nun in 1940s Australia who is faced with a difficult choice after a young child is put under her charge at a remote monastery with a mission for Aboriginal children. The film is set for a May release.
She recently wrapped filming on Jim Jarmusch’s latest feature, Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, which follows the emotional reunion of a set of estranged siblings.
She has also been working as both an actor and producer on the Zellner brothers’ forthcoming sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang, as well as Ben Stiller’s movie-length adaptation of the 1960s British sci-fi espionage series, The Champions.
The esteemed actor has won several awards throughout her career, including two Oscars, for best supporting actress in 2005 (The Aviator) and for best actress in 2014 (Blue Jasmine) and two best actress awards at the Venice film festival (for I’m Not There in 2007 and Tár in 2022).
Image credit: Shutterstock
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