Cate Blanchett’s secret role in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’: “We wanted something warm and sensual”
There is perhaps no production more fabled and shrouded in secrecy than the making of Eyes Wide Shut, with director Stanley Kubrick creating a mesmerising mirage that blurs the lines between temptation, desire, perversion and sex. From the hazy bedroom conversations between Alice and Bill to the unnervingly sparse score and slow teasing towards the final scene, it remains one of the most enigmatic and mystifying works from Kubrick’s filmography, despite those who dismissed its meaning and slated its anti-Hollywood structure.
It’s a strange and trance-like dream of a film, taking place in a nocturnal world full of sordid possibilities and temptations, with Cruise’s character journeying through an underground world that ultimately wakes him from his spell of jealousy and brings him back to reality and the blunt normality of married life.
But while the casting of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise was almost as notorious as the film itself, with Kubrick testing the boundaries and tensions of their real-life relationship to add depth to their characters, there were also a few other Hollywood heavyweights who had unexpected roles in the story, with Kidman suggesting a fellow Australian to join the production.
Perhaps the most infamous scene from Eyes Wide Shut is the moment when Bill finally arrives at the mansion for the underground orgy, an erotic yet dangerous feeling scene that captures the allure and risk of this world. Bill is pulled in by his desire to explore the unknown, even if it might be detrimental to himself and his marriage, wanting to explore the hidden depths of his most primal impulses, even if he realises they don’t really exist.
It’s a huge sequence that involves countless extras and layers of choreography, with Kubrick being his usual meticulous self in researching the movements and costumes of each background character as they move in a way that is sexually suggestive, but not quite explicit. But who knew that Cate Blanchett was actually part of this scene, with the actor being brought into the project last minute to help record lines during post-production.
When discussing this, Leon Vitali (Kubrick’s former assistant), explained how Blanchett voiced some of the lines during the scene as Bill is about to be punished in front of the secret society members. Her voice can be heard saying, “Take me! I am ready to redeem him”, voicing a mysterious woman who is heard and not seen.
Vitali said, “It was Cate Blanchett! That was her voice. We wanted something warm and sensual but that at the same time could be a part of a ritual. Stanley had talked about finding this voice and this quality that we needed. After he’d died, I was looking for someone. It was actually Tom and Nicole who came up with the idea of Cate. She was in England at the time, so she came into Pinewood and recorded the lines”.
There was a fair amount of dubbing needed during post-production, something that was complicated by Kubrick’s death and the responsibility to complete the final touches without him being present. However, they perfect the tone needed for this scene, something both seductive and dangerous, with Blanchett becoming part of another iconic production through her voicing of one line, even if in a small way.
