Cate Blanchett never watches herself on screen

19 March 2022

Cate Blanchett never watches herself on screen.

Cate Blanchett won't watch herself back on screen

The 52-year-old actress was asked if she watches her work back she claimed that she simply "gives over trust" to her director.

She said: “No! … When you’re working with someone like Guillermo del Toro, you have to give over trust. You think, ‘Has he got what he needs? He knows what he’s doing.’”

However, Cate - who is married to playwright Andrew Upton and has Dashiell , Edith, Ignatius and Roman with him - added that she finds it very hard to quickly get in character for a new role feels "panicked" every time she prepares for a new role.

Speaking on the 'Smartless' podcast, she confessed: “It’s desperation, it’s panic. You’ve got to do something. … The night before [filming something new] I’m always saying to my husband ‘how do I do this?’ and he’s saying ‘you’ll be fine.’

Cate added that she relies on the director’s notes because of the lack of rehearsal time compared to from her background in theatre.

She explained: “You talk to the director, but you don’t actually get to rehearse. I’m used to rehearsal [in theatre]. I am slow, slow, slow. I need those six weeks and those previews to go: that wasn’t funny, that doesn’t work, we need to lose this thing because I don’t know what it means.”

The way I can do it is to say, ‘look, I’m going to do this, and if it’s garbage, you tell me.’ So that’s the conversation I have with the director. If this is the wrong direction, I’m so happy to change it, but you’ve got to do something. Often it’s not until you’ve gone in the wrong direction that you know what the right direction is.