Cate Blanchett
Playing a mother who goes missing in her new film, Cate Blanchett tells why her own family life can be chaotic – but she wouldn’t have it any other way
She was disappointed then when she heard the film’s budget wouldn’t stretch to filming in Antarctica. ‘I was devastated, but fortunately we were able to go to Greenland. One of the highlights of my life was a scene when we kayaked away from the boat we were on – there was absolute silence and then you hear the sounds of the icebergs calving, when huge blocks shear off. Then a whale went by with her calf. It was an absolutely life-changing experience.’
She says she’s been an adventurer herself since she was a girl. ‘I thought I was a girl detective, so I was always solving mysteries which meant I’d be out of the house for many hours, with my mother not able to find me. I ran away from home when I was three – I was very ambitious and went all the way to the next-door neighbour’s house. But for some reason my neighbour didn’t tell my mother and I was missing for six hours. Can you imagine my poor mother?’
Life at her own home, with playwright and director husband Andrew Upton and their four children, biological sons Dashiell, Roman and Ignatius, and adopted daughter Edith, whose ages range from nearly 18 to just four years old, borders on chaotic. ‘I have a perverse attraction to chaos,’ she says. ‘Both my husband and I freelance, we have four children, and it’s not just the logistical chaos of that, it’s the emotional chaos of having the four distinct, strong individuals we’ve been blessed with. We’re always biting off more than we can chew.’
She says it helps that the children all get on with each other. ‘What saves a family is if they can laugh together, and my children have all got a very similar sense of humour. I remember that from my childhood – on a Sunday afternoon I’d be up in a bedroom with my brother and sister, mucking around, then we’d come down at six o’clock for dinner and realise our parents had no idea what had been going on. We have that with our children, their relationships with each other are really strong.’
The feeling must be more precious knowing that next month her eldest son Dashiell will turn 18. ‘Oh, thanks for reminding me!’ she laughs. ‘Yeah. It’s big. He recently did an internship and went off for a
‘When I treat my eldest son like a child it drives him nuts’
couple of weeks, and that was big too. The hardest thing about being a parent is having to let go. I’d roll my eyes when my mother said, “You’ll always be my child so you’ll have to forgive me because I don’t mean to treat you like one, it’s just that I can’t help it.” Now I understand that, because it’s the way I treat my son and it drives him nuts.’
Ask her how the four feel about being Cate Blanchett’s children, and she laughs. ‘Two of my boys have just started at an all-boys school, and because their last name is Upton I’m down on the register as Cate Upton.
‘Now, Kate Upton is a rather attractive swimsuit model, and so the other boys said, “Is your mom really Kate Upton?” and my boys, not thinking, said, “Yeah.” So when I showed up on the first day to pick them up, the disappointment and disgust on the other boys’ faces was real!
‘They’d been so looking forward to those playdates!’