Cate Blanchett: Australia's Queen of Drama
凱特.布蘭切特：百變的戲劇女王

By Cleo Glyde 譯/ 宋怡秋

"It's not my job—and it's certainly not my interest—to get up there and tell the world who I am," states one of the world's most acclaimed actors, Cate Blanchett. Not peevishly—just to clarify.

Of course, the world is interested anyway. In the slipstream of acclaim garnered by her emotionally raw performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Blanchett is in London to attend the movie's premiere. In NYC, she is also emblazoned across billboards as the cucumber-cool face of Giorgio Armani's new fragrance, Sì.

Talking about her amazing year since her tenure as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company ended, our conversation turns to the psychological tightrope that all celebrated actors must walk between performance, real life and public persona—as seen through the distorting lens of global fame.

Whatever, maintains Blanchett. "It doesn't matter. The public 'Cate Blanchett' is not actually who I am, so it doesn't worry me at all," she says. "Acting is about holding up a mirror and reflecting people back at themselves, which I know sounds clichéd and wordy. But I am who I am and that's the person my family knows. If you see me on stage or in a movie, you see a different side."

Make that so, so many different sides. As opposed to actors who largely play what passes for 'themselves' in vehicles, Blanchett's famous and eerie ability to shapeshift has been the hallmark of our fascination and respect since she levitated from the Sydney theatre world in her 1998 breakout title role in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth, humanising British history's most compelling queen.

布蘭切特扮演伊麗莎白

Blanchett has smashed it on the world stage ever since. There are the bold, quirky career choices, including gender bending as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There; a pantheon of plum stage roles such as Blanche DuBois and Hedda Gabler; the Streepian ability to completely disappear into fully realised portrayals, each one unrecognisable from the next. And the classy, Teflon-coated private life, anchored by a famously strong marriage to playwright Andrew Upton and their three boys: Dashiell, 11, Roman, nine, and Ignatius, five. Oh, and that patrician beauty the camera devours.

But that intimidatingly perfect aura melts away when you meet or talk to the 44-year-old Blanchett. The hauteur of her appearance belies an amazing volubility—the lady loves to talk. I first interviewed her over coffee and cake at a cafe in Sydney's Balmain six years ago, when she was bursting with excitement about taking the helm at the STC alongside Upton—clearly a dream project for such theatre creatures. Dressed in bohemian-mum mode, twisting her hair in her fingers and talking earnestly about the rehearsal process, she was far more jobbing actor than frosty movie star.

Our next meeting, backstage at the STC this year, followed her electric performance in Jean Genet's The Maids, which is about as dark as it gets. After conjuring the play's highly stylised, sadomasochistic mind games onstage, lurching between abasement and demented grandeur, Blanchett strolled in purposefully in cream slacks and silk shirt to meet-and-greet the press after the show. She deftly took on all the questions and wonderment at the weird disconnect between being in and out of character. "How do you come down afterwards?"

"Well, there is no hope at the end of the play, really. No edifying ending. It's all bad—that's Genet …" she laughs. And her mood is light.

電影《女仆》劇照

This meeting bookends Blanchett's five-year tenure as co-artistic director—it has ended while Upton stays on solo. Although Blanchett has described the past five years as the most creative of her life, she is now free to answer cinema's siren call. Blanchett returns to screens next year in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups with Christian Bale, and will shoot David Mamet thriller Blackbird opposite Catherine Keener as well as heist drama Triple Nine with Christoph Waltz. But right now it's Oscar-buzz time in anticipation of January's nominations. How can it not be? Blue Jasmine is the kind of rare female-centric film that performers relish—one of the best since Blanchett succumbed to the grip of Judi Dench's covetous lesbian predator in Notes on a Scandal (2006).

Accepting the title role in Blue Jasmine without reading the script as a nod to auteur Woody Allen, Blanchett is riveting as the Park Avenue wife who loses everything—including her grip on reality. The emotional intensity of her performance is a huge departure from Allen's usual mannered, smart-funny New Yorker dialogue. But, in our recent phone conversation, I confess how funny I found Jasmine as she recoils from all the attendant horrors of leaving her gilded cage.

"There's that schadenfreude, isn't there? We do delight in other people's downfalls. And Woody is so brilliant at finding the comedy in the absurd and the tragic; that's his hallmark, I think."

Always a sucker for the messy glamour of a drama-queen character in freefall, I'm not the least surprised that Blue Jasmine has resonated with audiences. "We all theatricalise ourselves," theorises Blanchett, "particularly in the face of social media. We're constantly acting out this other self, without seeing how pompous and unreal we are being, or how tenuous our grip on reality actually is. Perhaps people are connecting with somebody whose vision of themselves doesn't fit into the way the world actually works. It's quite comic …"

Blanchett's thoroughbredphysicality is pitch-perfect in the film, adding an irresistible grace note to Jasmine's denial. Wearing a glittering cardigan shrugged over a tapered dress that clings to her pin-thin figure like molten gold, she exudes wealth and sophistication, visually transcending the slings and arrows of corporate corruption, pills, booze and bankruptcy even as her psychological and financial world crumbles around her.

It's this ability to shine—with the added depth of her talent—that makes Blanchett a natural fit for the Armani brand. When asked to define elegance, Italy's fashion maestro describes it as "that natural lightness of touch that is a form of deep sophistication, and an indication of self-assurance." So Blanchett, who wears her talent and beauty with said lightness of touch, was a fabulous choice for the launch of his new signature woman's fragrance, Sì.

Blanchett's career may also play the whole spectrum. Her counterintuitive turn as the trashy, malevolent sexual force in 2001's The Shipping News haunts me still. But it's her recurring role as the regal elf queen, Galadriel, in the adaptations of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit that embodies her other-worldly quality. The elfin goddess returns this Boxing Day in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (with the last instalment due next year). What on (Middle) Earth is it like to show up for a film that is so largely crafted in post-production?

"Of course it's more difficult to suspend disbelief and take yourself seriously when there's so much green screen, but this is where the director comes in. Someone like a Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson is your bridge to the animated world and your character; you just entirely believe in the universe. There's still quite a lot of the magic on the set, and the costumes are there. Peter [director of The Hobbit] does the rest, communicating the circumstances, character motivation, what's coming to bear. You fall into his natural ability as a storyteller. What could be better?"

We talk about being mothers of sons and wanting to raise good men. "I think it's the example you set as a woman. The other day, my middle son spent the entire evening talking to a make-up artist and really good friend of mine about her new scent and how his favourite smell is cinnamon," she says. "I'm quite pleased that they don't seem to demarcate the difference between traditionally feminine and masculine concerns. That's quite elastic for them."

Blanchett believes their upbringing has made her sons into theatre kids. "It's [spending] the past formative five years backstage. They see the fun and also the hard work of a collective endeavour that's not just about the actors, but also the skills of the people in workshop and the hard work at the box office. They get that it's about more than the person in front of the curtain or on the 30-foot screen, that so-called celebrity stuff that the world is obsessed with."

And who does she think is worth obsessing over? Who would she take into deep space? "My husband," she responds promptly, "for the entertainment value. I mean, I'm obsessed with Julian Assange, but I wouldn't take him into deep space."

“來到這里，告訴世人我是誰——這不是我的工作，也絕非我的興趣。”說這話的，是世界上最負盛譽的演員之一——凱特·布蘭切特。她并不是脾氣壞，只是在澄清自己。

當然，無論如何世人對她都是充滿興趣的。布蘭切特在伍迪·艾倫的影片《藍色茉莉》中情感飽滿的演出不斷收獲好評，而她本人正在倫敦出席該片的首映式（編注：英文原文刊發于2013年11月）。在紐約，她那鎮定自若的面容也出現在大型的廣告牌上，為喬治·阿瑪尼新推出的香水Sì代言。

談到她卸任悉尼戲劇團聯合藝術指導之后的這精彩的一年，我們的話題要轉向所有著名演員都要面對的一個棘手的心理問題，那就是如何拿捏表演、現實生活和公眾形象之間的分寸——因為人們是透過“國際盛名”這個扭曲的鏡片來看待她的。

布蘭切特對此表示無所謂。“我并不在意這些。公眾眼中的‘凱特·布蘭切特’并不是真正的我，我完全不會為此感到困擾，”她說，“表演就如同舉起一面鏡子，讓人們從中照見自己，我知道這話聽起來像是啰唆的老生常談。但我就是我，是我的家人認識的那個我。如果你在舞臺或銀幕上看到我，你看到的是我的另一面。”

應該說，她有另外好多面。1998年，從悉尼戲劇舞臺橫空出世的布蘭切特在謝加·凱普爾執導的《伊麗莎白》中突破性演繹了影片的同名角色，她的表演賦予了英國歷史上最引人注目的女王人性化的特征，自那以后，她那著名的、能演繹各類角色的驚人演技就成了她的標志性特征，讓我們為之迷戀和尊敬。而這也使布蘭切特與那些主要在為自己量身定制的影片中本色出演的演員截然不同。

從那時起，布蘭切特就在國際舞臺上一發而不可收。她大膽挑戰了一些不同尋常的角色，比如，她在《我不在那兒》中反串飾演了鮑勃·迪倫；另外，她還出演了布蘭奇·杜波依斯和海達·高布樂等一系列令人垂涎的著名舞臺角色；她有斯特里普似的能力，能完全融入角色，將角色演繹得栩栩如生，而且每個角色都絕不雷同。而她在戲外品味高雅，將私生活保護得嚴嚴實實，這些都有賴于她與編劇安德魯·厄普頓那出了名的穩定婚姻和他們的三個兒子：11歲的達希爾、9歲的羅曼和5歲的伊格納提烏斯。哦，還有，她那具有貴族氣質的美麗容顏一直為鏡頭所鐘愛。

但是，當你與44歲的布蘭切特會面或與她交談時，那層完美得令人望而卻步的光環便會消散。在高傲外表的掩蓋下，她其實是一個十分健談的人——這個女人喜歡說話。我第一次采訪她，是六年前在悉尼波梅茵的一家咖啡館里邊享用咖啡和點心邊進行的。當時，我們談及了她與厄普頓共同執掌悉尼戲劇團一事，這令她興奮不已——對如此熱愛戲劇的人而言，這無疑是個理想的工作。眼前的她一身波西米亞兼媽媽風格的裝束，一邊用手指捻弄著發梢，一邊用心講述著排練的進程，這時她看起來更像是個臨時演員，而非冷若冰霜的電影明星。

我們再度會面是今年在悉尼戲劇團的后臺，那時她剛以扣人心弦的表演為觀眾精彩呈現了讓·熱內的作品《女仆》，戲的內容如原著一般陰暗。在臺上出神入化地展現了該劇高度程式化、施虐受虐狂式的心理游戲，以及在卑順服從和狂亂的高高在上之間來回轉換的戲份后，布蘭切特特意換上米色休閑褲和絲質襯衫款步而來，出席了演出結束后的媒體見面會。她流利地應答著所有提問，以及人們對演員如何能在戲里戲外處于截然不同狀態的好奇發問。“表演結束后，你如何讓自己的情緒恢復過來？”

“嗯，在這出戲結束時是沒有希望了，真的。那不是個令人愉快的結局。非常不好——那就是熱內……”她笑了，心情很輕松。

這次會面后，布蘭切特作為聯合藝術指導的五年任期結束了——藝術指導一職將由厄普頓獨自擔任。雖然布蘭切特把過去的五年稱作她人生中最富創造力的階段，但她現在可以自由地接受來自銀幕的召喚了。布蘭切特與克里斯蒂安·貝爾合作出演、由泰倫斯·馬力克執導的《圣杯騎士》將在明年上映，不久，她還將與凱瑟琳·基納聯袂出演大衛·馬梅的驚悚片《黑鳥》，并與克里斯托弗·沃爾茨合演盜賊片《999》。不過，現在正值奧斯卡評獎季，人們都在期待1月份的提名結果出爐。提名里怎么可能沒有她？《藍色茉莉》是讓演員們望眼欲穿卻難得一見的以女性為中心的電影，也是繼《丑聞筆記》(2006)之后最好的女性電影之一——在《丑聞筆記》中，布蘭切特扮演的角色最終落入了朱迪·丹奇扮演的貪婪成性的同性戀者的控制之中。

作為對導演伍迪·艾倫的致意，布蘭切特未曾讀過劇本就接下了《藍色茉莉》一片中的同名角色，在片中飾演了一個失去了一切——包括對現實的把控——的上層階級妻子，那個形象牢牢地吸引了人們的目光。她的表演帶有強烈的情感張力，與艾倫一貫忸怩作態、機智詼諧的紐約式對話體風格大相徑庭。但是在我們最近的電話交談中，我向她承認，當我看到茉莉離開鍍金牢籠，面對著隨之而來的種種可怕前景畏縮不前時，感到十分好笑。

“這就是幸災樂禍，是不是？我們確實樂于看到別人垮掉。伍迪特別善于從荒誕和悲慘的情境中發掘喜劇元素，我想那是他的特色。”

因為一直喜歡看情緒夸張的角色在迅速敗落時的狼狽相，對于《藍色茉莉》在觀眾中產生的共鳴，我一點也不感到驚訝。“我們都把自己戲劇化了，”布蘭切特發表著自己的見解，“特別是在面對社交媒體的時候。我們一直在扮演另一個自己，卻沒有意識到這樣做是多么地自負和虛假，我們對現實的把握其實是多么地無力。看到那些自我認知和實際情形并不吻合的人，人們可能會感同身受。這是挺滑稽的……”

布蘭切特優美的體態與片中的角色十分契合，為拒絕接受現實的茉莉增添了一分令人難以抗拒的優雅。身穿一件光彩奪目的羊毛衫，松松垮垮地套在一條像熔化的黃金般緊貼著她纖細身材的束腰裙外，她周身散發著富貴典雅的氣息。這樣的形象超越了對企業腐敗、濫用藥物、酗酒和破產的尖酸抨擊，盡管她的物質世界和精神世界都已在崩塌。

正是這份閃亮的氣質——連同她豐贍的才華——使得布蘭切特天生就適合為阿瑪尼品牌代言。在人們請他給出優雅的定義時，這位意大利的時尚大師將它描述為“由深蘊涵養和自信所構成的那種自然流露出來的輕盈觸感”。因此，兼具才華、美貌與這種輕盈觸感的布蘭切特是為阿瑪尼最新個性女性香水Sì上市代言的極佳人選。

布蘭切特的事業或許也是全方位的。她在2001年的影片《航運新聞》中出人意料地飾演了一個一無是處、心腸狠毒的浪蕩女子，至今仍讓我記憶猶新。但是，真正彰顯她超凡脫俗氣質的是她在根據托爾金的作品《指環王》和《霍比特人》改編的電影中數度出演的高高在上的精靈女王蓋拉德麗爾。在今年節禮日（編注：此處應指在澳大利亞上映的時間）上映的《霍比特人：史矛革荒漠》中，這位精靈女王將再度回歸（系列的最后一部將在明年上映）。參演這樣一部包含大量后期制作的電影究竟是什么感受呢？

“在綠幕前拍攝這么多鏡頭，的確更難找到真實感、難以入戲，不過這時就體現出導演的作用了。像史蒂文·斯皮爾伯格和彼得·杰克遜這樣的導演就是連接你和動畫世界以及你所扮演的角色的橋梁，你只要把那個世界完全當成真的就可以了。影片的布景很有魔幻色彩，也有相應的服裝。其余的都是彼得（《霍比特人》的導演）的工作，他會給演員講述故事的情境、人物的行為動機，以及接下來將會發生的事情。你會被他講故事的天賦打動。還有什么比這更好的嗎？”

我們談到了當男孩的母親以及想將他們培養成優秀男人的話題。“我認為這取決于你身為女性樹立了怎樣的形象。前幾天，我的二兒子和我的一位化妝師好友聊了一整晚，談論她新換的香水以及他為什么最喜歡肉桂的香味，”她說，“我很高興地看到，他們似乎并沒有涇渭分明地區分傳統的女性話題和男性話題。他們能靈活處理這樣的差異。”

布蘭切特相信，家庭的熏陶讓她的兒子們也成了熱愛戲劇的孩子。“因為過去五年他們個性的形成時期都是在后臺度過的。他們既看到了戲劇演出中輕松愉快的一面，也認識到了那是眾人共同努力的結果，構成一臺戲的不僅是演員的表演，還包括創作團隊的創作技巧和票房工作人員的辛勤勞動。他們懂得了，僅有那些站在臺前或是出現在30英尺的大屏幕上、令世人癡迷的所謂明星是不夠的。”

那么，她認為誰值得她著迷？她又會為誰陷入遐思呢？“我的丈夫，”她馬上答道，“權當娛樂。我是說，我對朱利安·阿桑奇很著迷，但不會想他想到入神。”