The star spoke at the Toronto Film Festival about the importance of supporting inclusive projects
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGES BY STUDIOCANAL UK
Cate Blanchett has revealed that the Oscar-nominated film Carol almost wasn’t made because “no one wanted to fund” the lesbian romance.
Speaking at the Toronto Film Festival, Blanchett explained why the film struggled to get funding and the impact that had on its release. The actor said a key reason the industry was hesitant to put money into the project was because it was seen as a “risky endeavour” to make a film about lesbians. “Who was going to watch a film with one woman, let alone two women, falling in love?” she asked.
Carol, which was released in 2015 and directed by Todd Haynes, followed a 1950s middle-aged mother who falls in love with a younger woman. Blanchett was nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars for playing the titular role.
According to the 55-year-old actor, the film could have been released five years earlier and under a different director. “At one point, another director was going to do it, and he sort of got taken off the project,” Blanchett explained. As such, she too stepped away, until Haynes joined the team. “It was a five-year period because no one wanted to fund it at that point.”
Since Carol, Blanchett has played a number of sapphic roles, including Lydia Tar in 2022’s Tar, for which she was again nominated for an Oscar. Reflecting on her career, she said there was still a lot of improvement the film industry needed to make. “We do think about how much still has to change within the industry in terms of equity, inclusion and making films more sustainably.”
Seeing a lack of diversity on film sets prompted Blanchett to partner with the University of Southern California to launch a women, trans and non-binary film fund, which provides the money to get more films like Carol made.
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