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But now I know, is as you turn upstage you get a little bit of hot sauce on your finger and then yeah, you can play Greek tragedy.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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From First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Cate Blanchett.
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She's one of the most decorated and accomplished actors of our generation with a resume that includes more than 70 films and 20 plus theater productions along with countless awards including multiple Oscars.
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Her latest project though is the Todd Field written and directed psychological drama Tar, which opens in select theaters beginning October 7th with a wider release scheduled for later this month on October 28th.
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Cate Blanchett, welcome to the show. Thank you.
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Before we get started, how are you around spicy food and what's going through your mind as we prepare to take on the Hot Ones challenge?
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I'm really scared, but I guess it's probably the closest you'll ever get to knowing what menopause feels like. So, yeah. I've been through it.
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So, I'm I don't And spicy food I love, but I'm I'm Look, I'm really sweating already.
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I'm getting anticipatory anxiety. Okay, layer one gone.
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The layers are coming off.
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That means we're ready to go. Okay. Okay, that's my doctor. Okay. Ready? That's manageable. Mhm. That's nice.
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So, in your latest movie Tar, you play a world-famous composer whose life begins to unravel as they approach a career milestone?
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What was the experience like presiding over the actual Dresden Philharmonic for the scene featuring Mahler's Fifth?
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I've heard you describe an electric charge that went through you at the raise podium.
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Yeah, do you do you play an instrument? No, I don't. Anything?
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Just the uh hot sauce symphony over here. sauce symphony.
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Yeah, uh well, it was ter- absolutely terrifying.
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I mean, I played the piano as a as a as a girl, so I kind of I sort of understood an instrument that way, but you know, a conductor's instrument is the orchestra.
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And so, the weirdest thing is, and I don't know why it seems so obvious that you prepare in silence cuz you have the score in front of you and you imagine the music in your head.
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And Mahler's Five, if you know, for those of you who haven't listened, you should must listen to it.
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It's a massive massive exciting work.
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And when you gave the downbeat, the trumpet started and then that trauma opened up.
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It was like an electric charge because that's your instrument and you hear the sound that you'd kind of imagined, but when you have an orchestra like that, it's just um it was better than I imagined.
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It was really addictive, actually. Any suggestions? Upper or lower lip? Just dive in. Just dive in. Ask questions later. That just very sweet. See?
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That doesn't do I mean, the other one was had a little more of a kick.
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See, I wasn't joking though about the hot sauce symphony.
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you conducting right now. Yeah. all right.
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Has anyone ever thrown up? Oh, um not on the set. Okay.
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Why do you feel like you might? Not yet. Not yet. All right. Just keep it, you know.
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So, I'm intrigued by this quote of yours for an upcoming role that you have in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, where you play an animated monkey and said, "I'd listen to a lot of different chimpanzees, then try everything out."
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How does finding the right tone for an animated monkey, how if at all does it compare to mastering a regional dialect or the many accents that taken on throughout your career.
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From from from which um forest did I choose the actual chimpanzee?
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It was a kind of a melange of a lot of different chimps.
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But if you listen to a lot of chimps, they do sound very different depending on their age and um and then you just get in there and work out what makes Guillermo laugh and and yeah, that's what I did.
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Because you have to I mean, cuz they make a So that was you know, it was a bit like I mean, I had to do a bit of opera warm-up. Yeah, yeah.
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to get into my test, yeah.
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So that was It wasn't tedious, but it was taxing.
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Cuz you know, you get into the booth and it's like hour after hour of Yeah. Okay, pico pico. Pico rico even.
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This looks like a a fine wine. Yeah.
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Got a chili oil in this one? You probably have.
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you ever drunk a whole bottle of it?
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A whole bottle of far do you go?
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Like have you ever of hot sauce?
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Have you ever drunk a bottle of it?
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No, but you know what I did do is I eat a Carolina Reaper, which is the hottest pepper in the world.
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So just like taking the pepper and just eating it straight.
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I did that one time and that's probably more extreme than like chugging a bottle. And what happened?
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It just felt like I had food poisoning for like a whole evening, you know. you did it again.
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And then I did it again and then I did it again and then I did it again. that?
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I was a young man, 28, you know.
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So when did When did you start doing this?
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When did you realize that this was your gift?
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Oh, well, thanks for putting it that way.
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It's I almost think of it as like the the cross that I bear at this point, you know. Right.
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it wasn't a huge hit at first, but then we had this moment where it kind of like broke through in this mass discovery sort of way.
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And I remember at the time I was talking to Chris, who I started the show with. Hi Chris. Hey Chris.
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And I was I I I see that you're over there and you're not up here.
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Yeah, he likes to hide in the shadows.
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He doesn't want to be accountable, you know, he doesn't want to answer for any of this.
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But I was joking with him like, I'm eating a lot of hot food and nobody cares.
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And then we had this moment where it kind of broke through with a Key and Peele episode that kind of went like crazy viral and then the whole catalog kind of lifted with it.
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And then we were kind of off to the races from there.
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And then here we are, season 19 with you in the seat.
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So that's kind of the story. it.
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Has anyone ever just stopped right at the beginning? It's crazy.
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We've done like 300 episodes of this and maybe only like 15 or 16 people have stopped before the end, which is No pressure. No pressure.
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I'm not trying to lead the witness or put any pressure on you about that.
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When we had Elijah Wood on the show, he gave us a crash course in forced perspective.
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What was the piece of cinematic wizardry that blew your mind the most when you saw it in action on set of Lord of the Rings?
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I think it was what what Peter Jackson was called and I'm sure they're being used a lot now is a split frame diopter.
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It's something they do with the lens so that you can hold two people of of monumentally different sizes in the same frame and that they would build a table where on one side everything was obviously It was a bit like um you know um piece of theater is that everything was large on one side and everything was small on the other side.
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But there was something to do with the lens where they were able to hold them bit like a kind of a funhouse mirror.
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Which was really incredible cuz it was done in camera, which was pretty cool.
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Cuz a lot of a lot of that stuff and I think you can feel it when it's all done in post.
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You know, it's I love it when those tricks are done in camera.
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Okay, this is the This one looks really scary. I like that one. Me too. Do you cook?
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Not often, but you should see me order off a menu. I'm great. I'd order that one. That's great.
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So, I love this quote of yours.
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"Theater is all about foyers and conversation and digesting what you've seen."
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What's the role of the theater itself and how audience receive and digest plays?
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And then out of curiosity, is there a theater that stands out in your memory as just having like the best foyer?
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One of my first jobs was in a I mean, in Australia, a lot of the theaters are found spaces.
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So, one was in a tomato sauce factory.
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And um uh and another one was in a stable.
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And so, the the I the actual dressing room was as literally as big as these two tables put together and I was in a cast of 12.
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And then so, it was pretty tight.
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And the downstairs was I mean, you literally kind of had to climb a ladder to get up to the theater. And that was great.
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The old stable was pretty cool.
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What did you learn from being on the other side of the audition table during your time running the Sydney Theatre Company?
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Well, actually, you know, when I first came out of drama school, people didn't know what to to do with me.
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I I still didn't fit into any kind of box.
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And a casting director in Sydney took pity on me and she would call me in to read opposite people.
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And that was such an education because you could tell when as soon as people walked in, you go, "You're not going to get the job."
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Like as soon as they walked in the door and and you could tell the people who had a fighting chance.
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And and so, reading opposite them was was kind of incredible.
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But then, when we were my husband, who's here, who's not eating hot sauce today. But here for support. Yeah, here for support.
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Yeah, yeah, he's going to hold my hair back as I throw up into the bin.
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Um but it was amazing to be on the other side of of the of the of of the dressing room door to the theater.
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You know, when you're directing a play or when you've produced a show, the actors go out and I felt a profound relief that I didn't have to go out there.
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And then in talking about your relationship to doing film roles versus theater, I've heard you say that you're filled with regret on the last day of a movie shoot because it's then when you really start to understand the character.
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Yeah, and all the things you coulda shoulda woulda done.
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Is there a movie role of yours that you most wish you had eight shows a week to hone?
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Probably the one I just did.
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Um I mean it's always the one I just did.
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But but kind of for good reasons, not filled with regret, just that I felt so um I don't know, alive.
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Kind of like eating a hot sauce really. That's what it does. Blew my mind. yeah. Gets the blood pumping. Gets the heart racing.
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And on the topic, are you ready to move on here to sauce number six? Okay. Scotch bonnet.
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That's very good for your gut, turmeric.
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Nobody's got better digestion than me. No.
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That's the scotch bonnet.
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Kind of a deeper burn here.
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Which was a bigger challenge for you in your preparation for your Oscar award-winning performance as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator?
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Was it learning to play tennis or taking cold showers?
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Tennis was actually Tennis was a homecoming cuz I used to play a lot of tennis when I was a a girl.
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And we were filming in Montreal, so we had we joined the oldest tennis club.
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Now it's starting to get hot. Yeah. Yeah.
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The oldest oof tennis club in Montreal, and you had to wear all whites.
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So it was it that's a it's a pressure when you're playing in a club because everyone takes it really seriously. It's a bit like golf. Do you play golf? No. There's one thing.
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It's like I don't understand leaf blowers and I don't understand golf.
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Well, now I'm interested.
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What do you not like about to to another only for them to be blown back again and then you go, "I'm going to blow them again." Like the gardeners.
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I mean the fact their faces.
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They know that what they're doing is stupid. It's really it's bad.
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It's Oh, it's when you can't breathe in the first place.
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We're at that point in the show. Comma sauce. That's a great name. It is.
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I'm taking smaller and smaller bites. That's how it goes.
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That's how it goes on this show. That's sweet, too.
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Yeah, but then it kind of builds on you a little bit.
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You see, I've just been pushing them all to the corner of my mouth.
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Oh, you've got a hamster in here.
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Yeah, I'm going to get like a chipmunk.
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Do you have a favorite one of your scenes or most memorable Cate Blanchett scene revolving around food?
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Oh, I had to um That's really hot. Yeah.
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Um I had to cook um I had to to prepare a meal in a Barry Levinson film that about two and a half people saw called Bandits.
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And um that So, that that was more about the the preparation process.
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And it was a it was a dance number.
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So, it was more about that. I love that. I love that.
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Um now my eyes are watering. I know. I know. But just be careful. Be careful.
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No, but that's an amazing trick.
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Actually, um an actor told me an older actor, a stage actor, told me, you know, if you need to cry, you turn upstage and pull a nostril hair. And it works.
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But But now I know is this you turn upstage, you get a little bit of hot sauce on your finger.
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And then yeah, you can play Greek tragedy.
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One more food question for you. Okay. Can I Sure. Yep. Now my fire is dying. Oh, be very careful. I know. Yeah, yeah. Okay.
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Where does being the original Tim Tam girl fall on your list of career accomplishments?
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And then do you have a favorite line from one of those '90s commercials? Yeah, I don't know.
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I I I um I wanted to go to to um India.
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And I didn't have any money.
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And then I got a Tim Tam commercial.
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Which is pretty much up there because it's one of my all-time favorite biscuits.
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But I mean talking about having to eat the same thing over and over, that's the thing with with doing something like that is I had a lot of Tim Tams and then I never ate them ever again.
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Because you do eat a lot of them when you you know, I guess it's like if you did a car commercial, right?
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Like how many cars do you a show where you eat wings all the time. Would you imagine?
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It is what it says in the bottle, I guess. Beyond insanity.
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I It hasn't kicked in yet. Maybe it won't. Maybe It's like it hurt.
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When you talk and eat at the same time. Right.
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It's like your parents always say, don't talk and eat at the same time.
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There's a reason for that. Yeah.
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So with Halloween right around the corner, I think it's a good time to lean into your affection for the horror genre. One saying Yes. I love being terrified.
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It used to be a badge of honor if you could sit through Halloween II.
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Off the top of your head and without thinking about it too much, what is like your scariest quintessential movie that you have to watch during Halloween?
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I I think it would have to be something by Sam Raimi.
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It would have to be Evil Dead.
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The thing that makes me scream in magic tricks.
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Like if you were to do a pull a a card out of a lemon right now or anything like that or make an airplane disappear.
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Which one musician I'm magician told me the other day that he could do.
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I mean they always talk big, right? Right.
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But um I made a Lear jet disappear. I was like, oh, did you? I'm so I'm so gullible. Magic tricks.
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I That's what makes me scream.
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I think one of the one of the scariest movies I've ever seen is the is the original version of The Ring.
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It We had We got so scared.
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We're in the house by ourselves.
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We got so scared back in the day, We We We had to We started We turned the sound down.
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And then we had we watched it fast forwarded.
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And we we were still our pants.
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But that's how scary it was.
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There was you know no blood.
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I don't even actually know what the film was about, but it was terrifying. Okay, unique garlic. Oh, I've got to eat it. Okay, you and me. All right.
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So when we had Seth Meyers on the show, he likened Documentary Now!
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to building a ship in a bottle, a hobby that lets him escape from his everyday work grind.
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What to you was the appeal of that show when you appeared in a parody of a performance artist loosely based on Marina Abramović?
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Well, I I they asked me to to do that one.
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And it's always great to Excuse me. Sorry, Mom.
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Um you should never belch in public.
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Um Um and and and that was such a strange ask, you know, so I but but the one I pitched to them was then they um I had a They said, "Look, if you ever see a documentary that you think is ripe for kind of parodying, let let us know."
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And I saw this really sweet documentary set in Blackpool in the north of England about uh three different hairdressing salons.
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And up in the north of England all they talk about is dying.
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It's just like death is just You know, you we sit down and we would have talked about how whoever, you know, that that's all we would discuss.
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And um it was such a sweet beautiful documentary.
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And I gave it to them and they went for it.
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I mean, if we could probably at the How would we parody this? Woah.
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We could make it Have you made it If you Look, make a documentary about yourself, then I'll send it to Seth, and then I can play you. Woah.
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You know, that's a meta idea, isn't it? I love that idea. That's a crowd pleaser. That's going to work. Okay, what's this?
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This looks really Are you going to throw it at me or something?
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Is that what this is for?
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Oh, do we have to pour this on?
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Oh, now you're just showing off.
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I didn't want to do that.
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I didn't mean to do that. All right.
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So, this is the moment where where I could actually throw up.
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No, it's the it's the moment that will forever live in glory. Okay, cheers. Cheers. Cheers, big ears. I know. I know. It's really not good.
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But, the good news is we've reached the end and just one more question before we can roll credits.
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And I've heard you talk about the memories that you have of doing musical at university that would play to a crowd of three, two of whom left at intermission.
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But, even after all of the success, the international franchises, the countless awards and fanfare, you still to this day say, "The only way I can do it is I just pretend that no one's going to see it."
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How is having a no one's going to see it philosophy served you as an actor?
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Well, it it was a it was a um it was a very memorable experience.
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We made We did a we did a musical about climate change.
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And I realized then that, you know, you should probably um not have that crossover too often.
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And we did have three people in the audience and after the intermission there was one little old lady.
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And um we said we said there was seven of us in the show.
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And we said if we you know, she didn't have to stay there, but she um she really wanted us you know, to play it out, so we did.
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But, I I think it's just it's the the way I deal with the anxiety of it.
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Cuz you have to have you have to have a sense of a lack of consequence, you know what I mean?
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So, if you're going to embarrass yourself and acting is embarrassing a lot of time.
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You embarrass yourself in public.
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You know, you have you really do have to pretend that no one's going to see it.
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And frankly, that's often the case with Mhm.
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But, hopefully not with Tar. Not with Tar.
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And I don't think with this episode either.
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Throwing caution to the wind, taking on the Hot Ones Gauntlet, and living to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
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This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life. Wha- What?
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Like if you have a movie coming out or anything. Oh. Yes.
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I just made a movie with Todd Field.
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Is this Is this Can I do this? Yeah. Can I tell people? Go ahead.
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I'm not going to tell you anything except that you have to go and see Todd Todd Field's film about a conductor who I play a conductor of a major symphony orchestra whose past catches up with her.
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It's not a horror movie, but she Man, she is haunted by a lot of ghosts.
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And it you have to It's a The sound is incredible.
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Hildur Guðnadóttir, who did the score for Joker, has done the composition that I play. The It's amazing.
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Nina, the great Nina Hoss, one of the great actresses, I'm you know, we we um play um husband and wife.
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And um it's It's amazing. THANK YOU. YOU DID SO GOOD. You did so good. That's really hot.
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Hot Ones fans, thank you so much for watching today's video.
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If you want to get your hands on the Season 19 Hot Ones hot sauce gauntlet, boy do I have good news for you. Just visit heatness. com, heatness. com, that's heatness.
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com to get your hands on the 10-pack, the Season 19 Hot Ones 10-pack, Hot Ones in a box delivered right to your door. I highly recommend it. It's delicious. I eat it every week.