Cate Blanchett has claimed the Me Too movement has never taken root in Hollywood.
The actress has spoken out on what changes she has seen in her industry, seven years after she said she had been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein.
Cate has insisted that despite years of widespread conversations sparked by the Me Too movement, there has not been enough progress.
‘Everyone talks about the #MeToo movement as if it’s well and truly over, and I think well, it didn’t really ever take root, to be honest,’ she told NET-A-PORTER’S digital title PORTER.
‘People were seeking to dismantle and discredit those voices that were only just beginning to come out from under the floorboards into the light. I find it quite distressing the way that it hasn’t taken root.’
In a 2018 interview with Variety the actress was asked if she had every been sexually harassed by Weinstein and she said ‘Yes’.
Cate Blanchett has claimed the Me Too movement has never taken root in Hollywood
The actress has spoken out on what changes she has seen in her industry, seven years after she said she had been sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein
‘I think he really primarily preyed, like most predators, on the vulnerable. I mean I got a bad feeling from him. … He would often say to me, ‘We’re not friends,” the actress said.
When asked what he meant by that, she said only: ‘Well, I wouldn’t do what he was asking me to do.’
Cate and Weinstein have a long working history, going as far back as 2000’s Oscar-nominated film, The Talented Mr Ripley.
But she said in the 2018 interview that working with him was never something she pushed for.
‘I don’t think Harvey will be making films with anybody. He was brought on as the producer on many films that I had absolutely no say on. I didn’t have a creative or functional relationship with him,’ she said.
As part of Dirty Films – the production company that she and her husband Andrew Upton co-founded with film producer Coco Francini – she and Francini recently spearheaded Proof of Concept, a program that offers financial support, mentoring and platform opportunities to women, trans and non-binary filmmakers.
‘It’s about scaffolding. [It’s about] those things being seen and being heard,’ she explained. ‘Because a homogeneous industry is not a healthy industry. [It is] so beset with a lot of nefarious and tragic forces.
‘But don’t you think, no matter what industry you work in, it’s hard to know where to place one’s energy at the moment…? There’s so much that is bewildering and heartbreaking and enraging about the situation we find ourselves in.’
Cate has insisted that despite years of widespread conversations sparked by the Me Too movement, there has not been enough progress
‘Everyone talks about the #MeToo movement as if it’s well and truly over, and I think well, it didn’t really ever take root, to be honest,’ she told NET-A-PORTER’S digital title PORTER
In a 2018 interview with Variety the actress was asked if she had every been sexually harassed by Weinstein and she said ‘Yes’
Cate and Weinstein have a long working history, going as far back as 2000’s Oscar-nominated film, The Talented Mr Ripley (pictured together in 2007)
As part of Dirty Films – the production company that she and her husband co-founded she and Francini recently spearheaded Proof of Concept, a program that offers financial support, mentoring and platform opportunities to women, trans and non-binary filmmaker
Cate added that she is inspired by the rising generation of actors and what they are bringing to the table
Cate added though that she is inspired by the rising generation of actors and what they are bringing to the table – including her recent co-star in new movie Black Bag Marisa Abela, and Emma Corrin, who she is working with on the upcoming production of The Seagull at the Barbican.
‘Their point of view on a scene will obviously be profoundly different to mine, or someone of my generation,’ she gushed.
‘I’m just amazed by not only their aliveness of their point of view, but also their technical reserves in ways that I couldn’t have even imagined having or possessing when I was their age.’
To see the full interview, read PORTER or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Search for NET-A-PORTER on the App Store and Google Play
