Nightmare Alley<\/a>] finally came up. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cSo, of course, that was what <\/span>I did. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s coming from theatre, but I don\u2019t usually think. \u2018Oh my gosh, look at all these lines to say,\u2019 although that did cross my mind when I read this script!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cate Blanchett as Lydia in T\u00e1r.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n You learnt to play the piano as a child and took refresher lessons for this role. Did you also have to learn how to conduct?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI will say from the get-go that the film is not about conducting \u2013 that\u2019s something that Lydia T\u00e1r does like breathing. So I knew I had to find her way of breathing. I got really obsessed with [Austrian conductor] Carlos Kleiber and his tortured, ambivalent relationship to his work. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd obviously, [groundbreaking female Dutch conductor] Antonia Brico\u2019s mentioned, and I went back and looked at her. And Marin Alsop and Nathalie Stutzmann, who I\u2019m completely obsessed with\u2026 And with my Australian compatriot Simone Young.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIs this a reverse #MeToo story? A woman in a position of power who abuses it\u2026\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cNo, no\u2026 I think that whole inclusion of #MeToo, and the reason the film grapples with #MeToo, is because unfortunately it\u2019s still very relevant and present in the industry. [From the victims] there\u2019s a lot of unexamined rage, and I think exploring that is part of the creative process. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve just been reading a book on female rage. It\u2019s really interesting, as a woman, when you\u2019re used to trying to work within an imperfect system \u2013 say the movie business \u2013 despite the problems, to find success. And then you realise in fact, will this system ever serve me? Or, instead, do I need to break the system apart?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nLydia T\u00e1r is brought down by a public outcry \u2014 so is this a film about cancel culture?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cOf course [there\u2019s] cancel culture\u2026 you could lump #MeToo in with that, but I think that\u2019s a big generalisation. They\u2019re two different things. Look, fundamentally, these issues are part of the world that we\u2019re in at the moment. So, of course, themes like #MeToo and cancel culture will be tackled in a film like this. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBut they\u2019re plot devices and textures from the real world, they\u2019re not the only thing we\u2019re talking about. It is, dare I say it, more existential than that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cate Blanchett as Lydia in T\u00e1r.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n Is it right to cancel great artists because of their personal foibles?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t read older books that are slightly offensive, because of what they say in a historical context, then you will never grapple with the minds of the time. So therefore, <\/span>we are destined to repeat that stuff. The philosopher Schopenhauer\u2026 is his work extraordinary? Absolutely. You look at Picasso. You can only imagine what went on in, outside and around his studio. <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBut do you look at Guernica and say that is one of the greatest works of art ever? Yes, it\u2019s a fact. I think it\u2019s important to have a healthy critique.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYou and your husband Andrew Upton were co-artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for five years. Are people uncomfortable with women in positions of power?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYou have to know when and where to use that power. But as a woman, when you don\u2019t wield your power \u2013 in the way we see men wield their power \u2013 then people think <\/span>you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing, you don\u2019t know what you think. And that happens a lot. You also see it on set, less and less so, but with female directors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nYou and Andrew were executive producers on the Australian film Shayda. Is it important\u00a0for Aussies to stick together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYes. When Andrew and I were running the Sydney Theatre Company (2008-13), we really enjoyed producing other people\u2019s work. It can sometimes be \u2018hard yakka\u2019, as they say in Australia, to forge a career in the arts. It can <\/span>be a bit brutal. So if you have a chance to scaffold and support people\u2019s career development, I find that really rewarding.\u201d<\/span><\/p> You\u2019re also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Should actors speak out?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIf you find yourself with a platform, you can either use it for self-aggrandisement \u2013 which I do occasionally! \u2013 or to hopefully positive ends. Certainly, it\u2019s been life-changing for myself and my family to be involved in UNHCR.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nHow has it affected your family?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cWell, my husband and I don\u2019t quarantine what we do from our children. We like to talk about it around the dinner table. Our son [Ignatius] came with us on a mission to Jordan, and just watching him play soccer with the boys in the Azraq camp\u2026 this one boy wouldn\u2019t get up to play with him, and he said, \u2018Does he not want to play?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd I said, \u2018No, darling, he got shot and he still has shrapnel in his foot from when he was crossing from Syria to Jordan \u2013 he can\u2019t walk properly.\u2019 You could see him going, \u2018That is so outside my experience.’\u201d<\/span><\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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