Cate Blanchett on Tár, GayToo debate and lesbian icon status: ‘I don’t know what it means – but I’ll take it!’
Exclusive: "The way we approached it, their same-sex relationship just was - it's not the subject matter" says Oscar-winner Cate, as she and Tár co-star Nina Hoss chat to Attitude
Cate Blanchett believes her Oscar-tipped psychological drama Tár “couldn’t have been made 20 years ago” because she and co-star Nina Hoss play a lesbian couple in the film.
In Tár, Cate – previously Oscar-nominated for her turn as a closeted gay housewife in 2015’s Carol – plays Lydia Tár, a world-famous orchestra conductor whose power unravels when she’s accused of sexual impropriety.
“I totally welcome that conversation,” Cate told Attitude this week, when asked if she welcomes the film sparking MeToo – or, specifically, GayToo – conversations.
“Once you’ve made something like this, you have to give over the conversation to other people,” the bona fide lesbian icon added.
Added Nina of the queer storyline and GayToo subtext: “I found it wonderful that [the characters’ sexuality] is not an issue. They’re two people who fall in love with each other and have a child. They do music together, which they love. But maybe, if you take that out of it, I respect it and take it very seriously.
“[…] We have to get into a conversation and give each other time to have it and to listen. And come to an agreement, maybe, that comes from a warm place, and not a place of hate.”
“The landscape’s changed enormously since we made Carol“
Cate Blanchett
“She has this condition called misophonia – an acute sensitivity to sound,” adds Cate of Lydia. “There’s a metaphor in there. One of the sounds that she’s ignoring is an alarm going off next door. […] Sound is her enemy, and sound is her gift.”
To mark the film’s UK release today, and following Cate’s Best Actress Golden Globe win for Tár this week – and her going going viral in 2015 for her “gay villain gaze“ (“You’ve perfected it now…” we tell her, to which she replies: “Well, there you go…”) – Attitude attended Tár‘s London press day to ask about queer stereotyping and Cate’s lesbian fandom. (“It’s so nice!” she tells us with a smile.)
Tár is refreshing in that offers a response to MeToo that is not biased to a heterosexual perspective. You may not have made it with a cause or a message in mind, but do you welcome to film sparking GayToo conversations?
Cate: Definitely. What I love about the story that Todd [Field, the writer and director] has wrought, and the way he’s directed it and the way we approached it, their same-sex relationship just was. It’s not the subject matter of the film. Nor is the characters’ gender. It’s a meditation on power.
But of course, the landscape has changed enormously since we made Carol. When we made that, there were so few films moving over into the mainstream that dealt with same-sex relationships. And also picking it apart, so it’s not a monolithic experience. Tár could only have been made now. It couldn’t have been made and viewed in a mainstream audience 20 years ago. Therefore, we’re able to talk about a whole lot more than simply their relationship.
But it is a huge texture. Also, once you’ve made something like this, you have to give over the conversation to other people. So, yeah, I totally welcome that conversation.
I smiled when your character describes herself as a U-haul lesbian. That also invited me to scrutinise both characters for signs of stereotype – but I didn’t find any. How did you avoid that?
Because the characters are so nuanced. We had a lot of time to discuss their backstory in great detail. And to also, not in an indulgent way, but to make that manifest in what they did. What united them is this extraordinary sense of flow that came through what they did, which is be concert musicians. So, that stuff, was absolutely there.
But I don’t think there’s a stereotypical character – straight, gay, or otherwise – in the way Todd writes. He writes in a nuanced way. Not only about the characters, but their situations.
Several LGBTQ outlets have named you a lesbian icon. Why do you think that is, and are you happy for Tár to further cement that status?
Yeah, baby! [Laughs] That’s so nice! I don’t know what it means, but it’s nice. Yeah. Cool. I’ll take it!
Tár, starring Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss, is in cinemas now.