Cate Blanchett spoke about the “apparent lack of shame” in modern society during a discussion about her new Apple TV+ series Disclaimer.
Blanchett’s character, Catherine Ravenscroft, faces public criticism in the seven-part psychological thriller. Asked at the Venice Film Festival whether the way society mocks women has changed in recent years, and how she approached the role as a woman, the Australian actress and filmmaker said: “I always approach every role as a woman, because I am a woman. I don’t really think about it.
“There is a distinct lack of shame in society at the moment. Shame is very different from guilt. Guilt is a completely useless emotion, and I don’t know what we can do with it. But shame and regret, and the lessons we can learn from that, are very powerful.”
There is a lot of “shame” in society, Blanchett added.
“Just look at the way you try to raise your kids. If you insult them in public, it can lead to anger. Private conversations are often much more powerful than public conversations. I’m not saying public conversations aren’t important, but face-to-face conversations are much more powerful than public insults.”
The psychological thriller, which premieres on Lido on Thursday, is the big-budget series debut from five-time Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón. Based on the best-selling novel by Renée Knight, it tells the story of a celebrated journalist who discovers she is the heroine of a novel that threatens to expose her deepest secrets.
As Catherine races to uncover the identity of the anonymous writer, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys her life and her relationships with her husband (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The show also stars Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville and Indira Varma as the narrator.
“We all have a dark side,” Blanchett said. “I think there’s a perception that people who don’t tell you everything have a dark side that they’re hiding. That’s called privacy.”
“We think that people who are dishonest are doing evil things, but maybe we are dealing with these things ourselves. I play a woman who has things she has buried, things that hurt.”
The actor referred to Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score, which explores the effects of trauma. “The way trauma can stay in the body at a cellular level, and what happens to repressed memories. I found it so fascinating and so heartbreaking, and I was so grateful that I wasn’t in the same place.”
Asked if her outfit for the series premiere would be noteworthy after she hit the red carpet in Cannes wearing a dress resembling the Palestinian flag, Blanchett joked: “I’ll be naked.”
Meanwhile, Cuarón, whose previous film credits include Children of Men and Roma, spoke about his experience in television. “I don’t know how to direct television, and maybe it’s too late at this point in my life to learn that. We treated the whole thing as a movie,” he said.
He admitted that this may have been a “miscalculation” on his part. “It takes longer to make a movie, and this was about seven movies. It was a really long process, and I felt really sorry for the actors,” he said.
Future teen idol. Typical social media ninja. Alcohol buff. Explorer. Creator. Beer advocate.”