Cate Blanchett criticizes Trump's 100% tariffs on foreign films

Cate Blanchett has taken a swipe at Donald Trump’s controversial plan to slap 100 per cent tariffs on films made outside the United States, as she likened Hollywood to a ‘chimera’ of different cultures and nationalities.

The Oscar-winning actress, 56, revealed that despite being one of the most in demand stars, she had barely filmed on American soil throughout her 30-year career.

Speaking at the National Portrait Gallery in London at the weekend, Cate also insisted that filmmaking thrived off its multiculturalism.

The Blue Jasmine star, who lives in the UK with her playwright husband Andrew Upton, declared: ‘Hollywood, such as it is, is a chimera.

‘The number of times I’ve worked on American terra firma, I could probably count on one hand. Invariably, you will shoot out of country.’

She went on to point out that her breakout film Elizabeth in 1998 – in which she played Queen Elizabeth I – came from a blend of different nationalities.

Cate Blanchett has taken a swipe at Donald Trump ‘s controversial plan to slap 100 per cent tariffs on films made outside the United States, as she likened Hollywood to a ‘chimera’ of different cultures and nationalities (seen at Cannes last month)

Her comments come a month after the US President announced his plans to impose steep tariffs on foreign-made films in a bid to ‘make movies American again’ (seen last month)

The Oscar-winning actress, 56, revealed that despite being one of the most in demand stars, she had barely filmed on American soil throughout her 30 year career (seen in 2014_

She said: ‘Queen Elizabeth was played by an Australian [Cate], directed by a man from Bollywood [Shekhar Kapur], filmed in the UK. That’s the reality of how films are made.’

Her comments come a month after the US President announced his plans to impose steep tariffs on foreign-made films in a bid to ‘make movies American again’.

The move that has sent shockwaves through the international film industry and raised fears about the future of global collaboration.

Cate, who holds American citizenship but says she can’t vote there, made clear that her creative loyalties have never been dictated by geography.

She said: ‘I’ve thought as much about the Chinese and Indian film industries as I have about Hollywood. The Australian industry, where I come from, is small by scale, but culturally it was incredibly rich when I was growing up.’

The actress, who is also a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, said that working internationally has always been part of the appeal, pointing out: ‘If you have the chance to travel and work in other cultures, why wouldn’t you?’

Though the mother-of-four may have conquered the film world, she also admitted she never intended to become an actor at all, and had actively tried to stem her passion.

Cate confessed: ‘I tried everything I could to stop doing it. I came [to the UK] thinking I wanted to go into restoration. I studied economics and fine art and thought I’d get a real job.

She went on to point out that her breakout film Elizabeth in 1998 – in which she played Queen Elizabeth I (pictured) – came from a blend of different nationalities

Cate, who holds American citizenship but says she can’t vote there, made clear that her creative loyalties have never been dictated by geography (pictured in March)

‘But I kept performing – and eventually I went to drama school to try and get rid of it. But it still persisted.’

Despite decades of success, she revealed that nerves still strike when starting a new role – and it’s her husband who pays the price.

She joked: ‘The night before I start any [role], I always poke my husband awake at about 3.30 or 4am and say, ‘What’s my process? Can you remind me what my process is?’

‘After 28 years of marriage, he says, ‘You’ll be fine!’ He no longer converses with me about it.’

Cate also touched on the pressures of fame and online scrutiny, admitting: ‘You learn to develop a thick skin. And you learn very quickly the five people whose uncompromising and often brutal opinions you really seek out so you can keep growing. And the rest, you have to tune yourself out to the white noise of it all.

‘But then it can’t be too impenetrable because you have to allow people in, which is your job as an actor – to see through you and to see back into themselves, hopefully.

‘I grew up in a time, or came of age, when there wasn’t nearly so much churn in terms of everyone having an opinion and certain opinions being incredibly loud and perhaps ill informed but that’s the world we live in. It doesn’t stop the way you make the work.’

Last month, Trump announced his plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on any movie produced outside of the United States, claiming he wanted to save America’s movie industry from ‘dying a very fast death’.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, he declared films being made in other countries to be a ‘National Security threat’, adding: ‘It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda.’

He added that he had authorised the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to impose the 100 per cent tariff ‘on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands’, concluding: ‘WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN’.

The tariff announcement left film production leaders confused, with Trump offering little detail about how the levy would work in practice.

The White House hasn’t revealed how it plans on assessing the value of international films before the tariff is applied.

‘Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,’ White House spokesman, Kush Desai, said.

It is common for both large and smaller films to include production in both the US and other countries, with big-budget movies often shot around the world, such as the ike the recent Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning being filmed in Britain, Norway, South Africa and Malta.

Incentive programmes for years have influenced where movies are shot, increasingly driving film production out of California and to other states and countries with favourable tax incentives, like Canada and the UK.

Yet tariffs are designed to lead consumers toward American products, and American-produced movies overwhelmingly dominate the domestic marketplace.

The tariff announcement left film production leaders confused, with Trump offering little detail about how the levy would work in practice and The White House hasn’t revealed how it plans on assessing the value of international films before the tariff is applied

It was also unclear if the tariffs would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in cinemas, or if they would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue.

There was also no mention in Trump’s post of whether television shows, an increasingly popular and profitable sector of production for the screen, would be affected.

Analysts worry that Trump’s potential policy could make streamers slow down the number of shows they could produce.

‘There’s also a risk of retaliatory tariffs against American content overseas,’ Barton Crockett, an analyst with Rosenblatt Securities, told Reuters.

‘Raising the cost to produce movies could lead studios to make less content.’