The versatile
Australian actress up for the
Oscar for her role in "
Blue Jasmine" is famous for morphing into her roles, but tells
Lesley Stahl that each time she worries she won't pull it off.
DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN TOLD CATE BLANCHETT HER
FIRST ATTEMPTS AT HER OSCAR-NOMINATED ROLE IN
BLUE JASMINE WERE "AWFUL." -- "
60 Minutes"
Actress Tells Lesley Stahl She Watched
Ruth Madoff's "60 Minutes"
Interview
To
Feel Character's "
Sense of
Shame"
Cate Blanchett tells Lesley Stahl her first attempts at playing her Oscar-nominated role in "Blue Jasmine" were called "awful" by the film's director,
Woody Allen. The respected Australian actress also says that watching Ruth Madoff's 60 Minutes interview helped her feel "
the sense of shame" she infused into her portrayal of the humbled socialite
Jasmine French. Blanchett's interview will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, Feb. 16 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the
CBS Television Network.
"
First day, [
Allen] said '
It's awful. You're awful,'" Blanchett recalls. Allen, famous for giving his actors very little direction, didn't offer any and so, she did her take again. "And it was still awful," she tells Stahl. "Well, obviously, it got a bit better because
...you know, people have gone to see it," she jokes.
In addition to the
Oscar nomination, her performance won her the
Golden Globe for best actress.
Known for doing a lot of research, Blanchett said she watched
Morley Safer's 60 Minutes interview of Ruth Madoff, whose fall from grace due to her
Infamous husband's epic
Ponzi scheme closely tracked her character's plight. "I think that what I got from
... that
Madoff interview was the sense of shame and I found that very useful," says Blanchett.
One critic called her portrayal of
Jeannette "Jasmine" French, who was made homeless by her husband's transgressions, "the most complicated and demanding performance of her movie career."
Blanchett discusses some of her other demanding roles, particularly on stage as
Blanche DuBois in "
A Streetcar Named Desire." "At the time ...you do eight shows a week, my hair was falling out by the end... I think I was just so exhausted by it," says Blanchett.
Stahl traveled to
Australia to interview Blanchett, where she also spoke to her husband, playwright and director
Andrew Upton.
Cate Blanchett is one of those persons you enjoy to watch playing roles, because her characterization goes deep into the real one.
She absolutely
Rocks.
- published: 08 Jul 2014
- views: 107542