Cate Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winner, has told the British press she is retiring from acting in the near future.
The actor-producer said in an interview with Radio Times this week that she wasn’t sure calling herself an “actress” was quite accurate: “It’s because I’m giving up… My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”
The Australian star spoke ahead of BBC’s Radio 4 airing an adaptation of Wallace Shawn’s The Fever, Blanchett’s first radio play. It follows a woman from a privileged background who visits an impoverished foreign country and suddenly becomes ill. She becomes emotionally unsettled and contemplates the little impact she’s had on the world.
Only recently, Blanchett’s acting credits include Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV+ series Disclaimer and Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag, released in March, in which she stars with Michael Fassbender.
The acting legend, known for outings in The Lord of the Rings, The Aviator, Blue Jasmine, Tár and more, has also just finished a five-week theater run at the Barbican in London, starring in Chekhov’s The Seagull. She has wrapped on Jim Jarmusch’s Father, Mother, Sister, Brother set for a 2025 release with Adam Driver, and is also filming Alpha Gang with David and Nathan Zellner.
Blanchett also said in the interview that being a celebrity isn’t something she’s taken to: “When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicized, they sound really loud. I’m not that person,” Blanchett said. “I make more sense in motion – it’s been a long time to remotely get comfortable with the idea of being photographed.”
And the star shared: “I’ve always felt like I’m on the periphery of things, so I’m always surprised when I belong anywhere. I go with curiosity into whatever environment that I’m in, not expecting to be accepted or welcomed. I’ve spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.”
