Cate Blanchett — so beloved by this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival that she was featured on the event’s official poster — was sent a sentimental video message by fellow actor George Clooney as she accepted her Donostia Award Saturday night.
The Australian star, known for her roles in films such as The Aviator, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and more recently, the Oscar-nominated Tár, was recognized on the Spanish coast for her achievements in film.
“Fucking George!” Blanchett remarked as she wiped away mascara following her standing ovation at San Sebastian’s Kursaal Theater. Clooney had said in the video: “I want to say that there’s acting as a profession, and then there’s acting as an art, and we recognize that art… I’ve been lucky enough to direct you and to act with you, and you always make everyone around you feel lucky that we get a chance to work with someone who is so gifted and kind, and I’m proud to call you a friend.”
“I wish I was there,” the Wolfs star continued. “I can’t be there because I’m in Venice right now. I wasn’t asked. And I can’t be there because I’m in Venice, and I’ve been drinking. And I have no pants on,” he added, prompting theater-wide laughter.
Blanchett spoke to the crowd after accepting the award from her Disclaimer director Alfonso Cuarón: “As an Australian working abroad, I’ve had the great privilege of transcending many bodies. And my work has taken me to central Asia, to Europe, the Americas, to China, it has taken me all over the world and here now in Basque country, at this extraordinarily vibrant festival… I’m so very honored to receive this award. Thank you San Sebastian. Thank you.”
She went on, pointing out what she thinks is a “worry” at the moment: “It’s bewildering to me that there seems to be a lot of certainty, a lot of righteousness and a lack of doubt in the world, when, in fact, the world is a deeply uncertain place and to creative life, it’s fuelled with uncertainty and doubt. It’s the DNA of how you begin any project. You have to humble yourself… I worry that we’re try finding answers too quickly, and it’s this uncertainty, I think, that drives me on.”
Blanchett has racked up more than 200 acknowledgments and accolades across her long-spanning career, including two Academy Awards from six nominations. She has won four BAFTAs and four Golden Globes.
It is her first visit to the event in San Sebastian, Spain, taking place Sept. 20-28, though the festival has screened a number of her films before, including Babel (2007) and Veronica Guerin (2003). They’ve competed for the top prize, the Golden Shell.
Her honor Saturday night marks the second time an Australian actor has been given the festival’s highest honorary award after Hugh Jackman in 2013. This year, Spaniards Javier Bardem and Pedro Almodovar, whose film The Room Next Door scored a huge 17-minute standing ovation in Venice earlier this month, also collected Donostia Awards at the fest.
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