a creative dialogue with Armani since I was 14,’ says Blanchett.
‘I was always a great lover of masculine tailoring, and Armani was
a huge touchstone for me in terms of growing up and developing
my sense of aesthetic. And then to finally get to meet him and
work with him, not only as a designer but also as a philanthropist –
he designed the costumes for a play I directed – and now, being
the “face”... It’s incredible, because I know how private he is.
He takes a long time to move from being “Mr Armani” to being
“Giorgio”, so I really prize our relationship.’
On top of acting, modelling and her family responsibilities –
she has four children with her husband, the screenwriter Andrew
Upton, ranging in age from four-year-old
Edith to Dash, who turns 18 in December- Blanchett serves as a Goodwill Ambass-
ador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
It is in part for her work highlighting the
p l i g h t o f r e f u g e e s t h a t s h e w i l l b e h o n o u r e d
at Bazaar’s Women of the Year Awards.
‘When I came onboard, there were about
61 million displaced people around the
world, and now there are over 70 million - and that’s in just a handful of years. The
size and scale of the crisis is so over-
whelming that it’s difficult to relate to,’
she admits.
Her response is to ‘look for those points
of connection, for how similar we are’. It
is as a parent herself that Blanchett finds
her way to connect with refugee mothers,
linked by their mutual concern and hopes for their children.
‘That’s also what I found with Mrs America,’ she goes on. ‘The
difficulties faced by women on both sides of the political spectrum
were identical. We’re always waving our flags of difference, but in
the end, the result is to distance women from each other.’ Blanchett’s
mission, by contra st, is to br ing us toget her.
She talks wryly about the ‘mania for busyness’ that afflicts her –
‘You start to think, if I slow down and step away from this, even for
a moment, I may not be able to get back.’ Again, I sense her longing
to retreat to the peace of her own private Eden. ‘I was so happy the
other day,’ she says. ‘My husband and I have been using a wonderful
landscape architect, Jo Thompson. All of a sudden, all the flowers
had come out, and we had 75 jars of honey from our bees...’
But one must hope that she resists for a little while longer
at least. Thoughtful, articulate, passionate, brave, beautiful and
extraordinarily talented, Blanchett is one of those rare souls who
have a genuinely positive and powerful impact on the world
around them. We need as much of her as we can get.
commitment to promoting women’s rights. She has spoken out
about the #MeToo and Time’s Up campaigns, and as president of
the jury at the Cannes Film Festival last year, led a protest of 82
women in the industry – including Emma Watson and Kristen Stewart
- representing the total number of female directors whose work has
been screened in competition there (compared with more than 1,600
men). ‘I’m never interested in portraying myself,’ Blanchett tells me,
when I finally manage to catch up with her at New York Fashion Week,
where she is attending an event. ‘For me, selfishly, it’s always about
trying to understand someone else’s perspective. Often the further
from my own experience and my set of values, the more fascinating
it is. And the only way we can move forward is to learn from history.’
Blanchett, whose father died of a heart attack when she was just
10, grew up in what she describes as ‘a very strong household full
of women – my sister, an architect and urban planner, who I’m
very close to, my grandmother and my mother. I had a working
single mother, that’s my model’.
Perhaps as a consequence, she developed an interest in the
history of feminism. ‘I was fascinated as
to why the women’s movement burst
through onto the streets,’ she says. ‘You
felt the world was expanding and grow-
ing and changing, and voices that had
previously been dismissed were being
heard in the corridors of power. But
why did that bubble burst in the 1980s
and this amazing backlash happen? I’ve
always been interested in that area of
history. I think it’s really important to
fold in the lessons learnt from second-
wave feminism.’
What has struck her most forcibly,
working on Mrs America, is how little has
fundamentally changed since Schlafly’s
day. ‘We’re still talking about same-sex
restrooms, we’re still talking about women
in the military, we’re still talking about reproductive freedom. And
how many years ago was that? It really has been Groundhog Day.’
Yet some things have certainly altered for the better; notably,
society’s willingness to allow mature women to be both seen and
heard – and this is arguably thanks to Blanchett herself. Having
been the face of Giorgio Armani’s Sì fragrance for six years, she
was last year announced as the brand’s global beauty ambassador,
fronting all its make-up and skincare products.
Given that she turned 50 this year – an age at which women
have historically been relegated to the scrap-heap – it’s a choice
that’s both empowering and quietly revolutionary. ‘I’ve been in
‘I’m never
interested in
portraying myself.
Fo r m e, i t’s a l w a y s
about trying
to understand
someone else’