Cate Blanchett Says No One Was Willing To Fund Sapphic Romance ‘Carol’
Image: Source: @marygreenwell on Instagram
Australian queer icon Cate Blanchett has opened up about the difficulties of creating beloved sapphic romance Carol in 2015 with Todd Haynes, saying that it was “so hard” to get the project funded.
Blanchett is at the currently ongoing Toronto International Film Festival in support of her new projects Rumours and Disclaimer, and during a Q&A panel she spoke about the challenges that Carol faced in its production.
“At one point, another director was going to do it, and he got sort of taken off the project,” said Blanchett, as reported by Variety. “It was a five-year period, because no one wanted to fund it at that point. Who was going to watch a film with one woman, let alone two women, falling in love? It was a risky endeavour at the time, unfortunately.”
However, Blanchett noted that diversity in the industry since Carol released has improved substantially: “We do think about how much still has to change within the industry in terms of equity, inclusion and making films more sustainably. But you know, we have made huge advances… the voices are less homogenised.”
Blanchett has undoubtedly played some part in this, having played a number of queer characters such as Lydia Tár in 2022’s Tár, and she also began a fund to amplify the stories of women, trans and non-binary filmmakers in recent years.
Cate Blanchett asks for more daring big-budget films
During the lengthy panel discussion, Cate Blanchett also discussed her legendary career at length and the movie industry more widely. Noting roles such as Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, Blanchett called for more daring swings to be taken in big budget films.
“When there’s a sense of risk in those tentpole films, and you can feel it when there’s a risk, then they have a chance of being successful,” Blanchett said. “I mean, Barbie worked, not only because of the component parts, but because it was a risk. Someone took a risk on that. That’s why it worked – it was so fucking crazy!”
“I think when [big-budget movies] become self-satisfied and bloated… bloat is the enemy of creativity. You can have too many resources.”
