Cate Blanchett has opened up about how one of her most famous movies, Carol, struggled to secure funding because of the film’s lesbian romance, which meant it was seen as a “risky endeavour.”
At this year’s Toronto Film Festival, the 55-year-old actor, who is regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, reflected on how challenging it was to make the lesbian film Carol.
Speaking about her industry experience through the years, Blanchett noted that – despite becoming not only a LGBTQ+ classic, but an iconic film, and going on to garner six Oscar nominations – Carol struggled to find funding.
Cate Blanchett reflected on the challenges of making lesbian film Carol. (Monica Schipper/Getty)
The 2015 romance, directed by Todd Haynes, stars Blanchett as the titular Carol, a middle-aged mother who begins a romantic affair with a younger woman, Therese (Rooney Mara), in 1952.
The deeply felt romance ripples through Carol and Therese’s lives with some devastating impact.
In the new conversation, Blanchett said that the film went through a number of directors and ended up taking five years to make due to funding issues.
“At one point, another director was going to do it, and he got sort of taken off the project,” Blanchett said, Variety reported.
However, when Haynes became hooked to the project, Blanchett got back on board.
“It was a five-year period, because no one wanted to fund it at that point.
“No one wanted to see … who was going to watch a film with one woman, let alone two women, falling in love?”
Blanchett then went on to talk about, nearly a decade later, how there remains a lot of improvement to still be made in the film industry.
“We do think about how much still has to change within the industry in terms of equity, inclusion and making films more sustainably,” she added.
“But, you know, we have made huge advances.”
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in Carol. (Number 9 Films)
Speaking about the last few years of filmmaking, Blanchett expressed films have been “vibrant” because “the voices are less homogenous.”
“It was a risky endeavor at the time, unfortunately,” she added.
Throughout her career, Blanchett has played a number of queer characters.
In Tár, she was the world-renowned, EGOT-winning composer-conductor and dominating lesbian Lydia Tár.
She plays Lilith, who sapphic fans lusted over, in the action comedy Borderlands.
Furthermore, the actor isn’t just all talk when it comes to diversity on-screen.
Last year, she announced a partnership with University of Southern California and launched a women, trans and non-binary film fund to uplift stories from these individuals in the film industry.
Inspiration for the vital fund struck Blanchett when she walked onto an undisclosed movie set and witnessed its woeful lack of diversity.
With next year being the 10th anniversary of Carol, join us in a prayer circle for the prequel with Sarah Paulson.
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