Credit: Far Out / Video Still

Cate Blanchett rules out becoming a director: “I’d be triply slow”

Tue 27 June 2023 9:53, UK

Australian acting legend Cate Blanchett has recently discussed her career and ongoing aspirations. The actor, who will appear in Warwick Thornton’s drama The New Boy next month, addressed the prospect of becoming a director, revealing that she’s too “slow” for such an undertaking.

“I’m always trying to get out of acting,” Blanchett told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ve been trying to get out of acting my entire professional life”. The 54-year-old actor revealed that, besides acting, she prefers to devote her time to humanitarian causes and cultural bodies.

Hence, for Blanchett, acting has always been a case of communicating important messages. “For me, it’s about the conversation. And sometimes that conversation involves me being in front of the lens, and sometimes it’s back behind,” admitting that she can sometimes be “a little bit too bossy”.

Later in the conversation, Blanchett was asked whether she had ever considered becoming a director to get a firmer grip on certain projects. “I get asked a lot, but for me, there are so many things I find enjoyable in the process of making a film, so many directors who I want to work with as an actor and producer, and it takes a long time,” she replied.

“I’m slow as an actor. I’d be triply slow as a director. I also have four children and a garden. I know this is a cliche, but you do learn patience from gardening – and that is something I need to learn.”

“I do way too much. Sometimes you do need to be quiet,” she added, revealing that she’s also generally too busy for such an involved undertaking. The interviewer then suggested that, in her position, she doesn’t “really need” to work. “Oh yes, I do!” she retorted. “You don’t want to see me when I’m not working!”

The New Boy will arrive in cinemas on July 6th. The official synopsis for the movie reads: “Depicts the mesmeric story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun”.

Watch the trailer below.