Hollywood star Cate Blanchett on playing right-wing idol in new gender war drama Mrs America
without missing a beat says, ‘Well, I’m glad that pie wasn’t cherry because it would have stained my dress.’
“And I think that just about speaks volumes. I was inspired by the strong culture of robust public debate that was around in her day. I feel that’s something we’ve lost. We’ve got haranguing matches and shouting but we haven’t a sense of discourse.
“Those women actually talked and debated these things. They didn’t always agree but discussion was part of the process.
“The discussions we were having back in 1971 are constantly popping up in the media now – same sex bathrooms, same sex marriage, will women be drafted into the military? This couldn’t be more relevant.”
Aussie Cate, who lives in Brighton with her playwright husband Andrew and their four children, got her ideals from her mother, June. Her dad Bob died of a heart attack when she was ten and June raised her and her two siblings. She gave up teaching but she built a successful career in property development.
Cate says: “Growing up, I always identified as a feminist. I couldn’t understand how the notion of equality was so difficult for people.”
Schlafly’s principles were tested when her son John was outed in 1992.
But she insisted there was no contradiction in opposing gay rights while also supporting the son she loved.
Cate says: “She thought being gay was like a sickness. That her son had a sickness or a disability, and that he was vulnerable.”
Schlafly’s daughter Anne Schlafly Cori now chairs the Eagle Forum.
And she’s not too happy about Mom’s portrayal in Mrs America. “Cate Blanchett misunderstood my mother. Her acting is cold, cruel, and calculating,” she says.
“Phyllis Schlafly was warm and gracious and her beliefs were sincere. Women idolised her.
“Hollywood has produced a fictional show suggesting she was motivated by hunger for power. What really motivated her was her family.”
But double Oscar-winner Cate, who has played tough cookies such as Elizabeth I, spy Charlotte Gray and journalist Veronica Guerin in films, says: “I don’t believe in demonising anybody.
“When portraying a character, my personal political persuasions don’t interest me.
“We are all full of contradictions and hypocrisies. No one is perfect, including Phyllis. Although her hair was mostly always perfect.”