Cate Blanchett Comes Out

Reuters

Cate Blanchett has come out to explain a certain interview where she claimed to have had many relationships with women.

During the promotion of the film Carol, which recently had its premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Blanchett was asked if she had ever had any relationships with women.  To this, she replied: “yes, many.”  In the film, Blanchett plays a woman who seduces a younger woman played by Rooney Mara.

Blanchett feels the reporter misconstrued what she said.  She claims the interview omitted the part where she said she had not had sexual relationships with women, but rather had answered a coy question with an answer that she knew the reporter wanted, even if they didn't get it.

Now, in an interview with The Guardian, Blanchett was asked about the issue once again and she was not having it.  She defused the non-story by speaking of her role in the movie Truth:

"I also just played Mary Mapes, who's a journalist.  No one asked me how long I'd been to journalism school.  If I played someone who has an affair, I think a reporter would probably think twice before asking, 'Ooh, how many affairs have you had?'  It would be a slightly delicate area."

Essentially, Blanchett felt the media tried to sexualize her comments.

"But there are no holds barred about asking me whether I've had relationships with women.  And so I facetiously said, 'Oh yes, I've had many relationships with women' – because frankly, who hasn't?  Of course I said it in inverted commas.  But the inverted commas didn't make the page."

Undeniably, sex sells, and it's understandable that journalists might want to ask an actress about their sexuality if they're playing homosexual characters.  You could say Cate Blanchett might be regretting having answered sarcastically, but the truth is that women have a hard enough time in Hollywood without having to be faced with questions that perhaps don't really add anything to the movies they're presenting.