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April 10, 2002 - April 19, 2002

4-19-02 Latest News

Viggo Mortensen: Actor, Artist, and Crowd-Pleaser
Jincey @ 11:15 pm EST

After learning about Viggo's book signing from TORN, I rushed down to the International Center of Photography tonight after work. In the pouring rain people began to line up. I got there at 5:30 pm and the line had already stretched out the door and around the block! We were a bit miffed that the store would only allow 20 people inside at a time but still everyone waited - no one deserted the line. We chatted as umberalls were opened and shared.

By 6:00 pm Viggo arrived (on time!) and saw everyone waiting in what was now a raging thunderstorm. This man cares for his fans! He insisted ICP bend the rules and let the fans line up inside out of the rain and they relented! Thank you Viggo for getting us in out of the rain! It was crowded and noisy but very well organized considering.

Viggo took his time with everyone who went up to ask for his signature. He signed everything presented and made everyone feel that they were special by looking into their eyes. Before you could say anything he was asking you for your name and saying thank you to you for showing up! A true gentleman! He posed for photos with anyone who asked.

Well by now he is off having dinner with Billy Boyd who is also in town and appearing out at Stony Brook at the SciFi convention being held there. I'm home and very happy to have met a truly creative man. (Thanks to Zorina for this first report about Viggo's appearance!!)

Exclusive: FOTR Collector's DVD Gift Box Set Images
Strider @ 7:10 pm EST

Super Ringer Spy Trueogre has managed to score some images of the packaging for the various Special Edition Fellowship of the Ring DVD sets that will be released on November 12th.

This image shows the 'A' packaging for the 4-disc Special Edition, which is identical to the packaging and artwork of the two-disc set released on August 6, except that the art has a blue hue instead of a rusty yellow hue.

The next packaging, the 'b' packaging is a 'Limited Edition' case which appears to be like a leather book on the outside, and has the words 'Extended DVD Version' on the front. A similar style was adopted for Limited Edition version of the Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack.

The next packaging, the 'c' packaging is the Collector's DVD Gift Set box, designed by Alan Lee, from an angle that highlights the construction of the box. The gift box includes the 'b' packaged 4-DVD set from above, two bookend statuettes by sculptor Sideshow Weta, the National Geographic "Beyond The Movie" DVD, and several collectible Decipher game cards. There is a rumour that a minidisc featuring a ten minute preview of The Two Towers, but that is strictly rumour.

A closer look at the Bookend Statuettes that come with the Collector's Gift Box, based on the Argonath from Fellowship of the Ring and sculpted by Sideshow Weta.

Finally, we see another shot of the Collector's DVD Gift Set from the front, clearly showing the spine of the leather-bound Limited Edition case for the four Fellowship of the Ring DVDs. Presumably, the fifth DVD in the set is the National Geographic "Beyond The Movie" documentary.

2002 Hugo Award Nominees Announced
Xoanon @ 12:32 pm EST

The nominees for the 2002 Hugo Awards have just been announced, and three Tolkien-related things are in the running, two books in the category for Best Related Book (nonfiction), and one film for Best Dramatic Presentation.

Meditations on Middle-Earth, edited by Karen Haber is a collection, illustrated by John Howe, of essays about Tolkien by seventeen writers, including Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. Le Guin, Raymond E. Feist, Terry Pratchett, Charles de Lint, George R. R. Martin, Karen Haber, Poul Anderson, Michael Swanwick, Esther M. Friesner, Harry Turtledove, Robin Hobb, Diane Duane, Douglas A. Anderson, Lisa Goldstein, Glenn Hurdling (in conversation with Tim and Greg Hildebrandt) and Terri Windling. Excerpts from five of these essays are previewed at Green Books. [More]

Green Books also has an interview with Tom Shippey, for his nominee J.R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. [More]

The 2002 Hugo Awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony on the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2002 in the San José Civic Auditorium during ConJosé. For a full list of the nominees click here [More]

BEST RELATED BOOK (six nominees total)

Meditations on Middle-Earth by Karen Haber, ed. (St. Martin's Press/A Byron Preiss Book)
J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey (HarperCollins (UK) (2000);Houghton Mifflin)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (five nominees total)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema/The Saul Zaentz Company/WingNut Films) Directed by Peter Jackson; Screenplay by Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens & Peter Jackson; Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne and Tim Sanders, Producers; Michael Lynne, Mark Ordesky, Robert Shaye, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, Executive Producers.

CONJOSÉ, THE 60TH WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
press@conjose.org; http://www.conjose.org/

2002 HUGO AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
Tehanu @ 12:30 pm EST

The nominees for the 2002 Hugo Awards have just been announced, and three Tolkien-related things are in the running, two books in the category for Best Related Book (nonfiction), and one film for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Meditations on Middle-Earth, edited by Karen Haber is a collection, illustrated by John Howe, of essays about Tolkien by seventeen writers, including Orson Scott Card, Ursula K. Le Guin, Raymond E. Feist, Terry Pratchett, Charles de Lint, George R. R. Martin, Karen Haber, Poul Anderson, Michael Swanwick, Esther M. Friesner, Harry Turtledove, Robin Hobb, Diane Duane, Douglas A. Anderson, Lisa Goldstein, Glenn Hurdling (in conversation with Tim and Greg Hildebrandt) and Terri Windling. Excerpts from five of these essays are previewed at Green Books
Green Books also has an interview with Tom Shippey, for his nominee J.R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. More

The 2002 Hugo Awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony on the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2002 in the San José Civic Auditorium during ConJosé. For a full list of the nominees see here

BEST RELATED BOOK (six nominees total)
Meditations on Middle-Earth by Karen Haber, ed. (St. Martin's Press/A Byron Preiss Book)
J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey (HarperCollins (UK) (2000);Houghton Mifflin)

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION (five nominees total)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line Cinema/The Saul Zaentz Company/WingNut Films) Directed by Peter Jackson; Screenplay by Fran Walsh & Phillipa Boyens & Peter Jackson; Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne and Tim Sanders, Producers; Michael Lynne, Mark Ordesky, Robert Shaye, Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein, Executive Producers.

CONJOSÉ, THE 60TH WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
[Conjose
press@conjose.org

4-18-02 Latest News

Media Watch: Vanity Fair
Xoanon @ 1:25 pm EST

Ringer Spy Albertine sends along this scan from 'Vanity Fair' Magazine with a great photo spread and article about Cate BLanchett (Galadriel)

The "Vanity Fair" special Hollywood (April) issue has a double-page spread on Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), the "Elegant Classic"

"For all the visual jiggery-pokery on display in FOTR, the greatest special effect of all turned out to be Cate Blanchett's face, her features as timeless and mysterious as a sphinx's (or Garbo's). That such ethereal beauty could still be the product of nature and not some C.G.I. sweatshop, that a woman playing an elf can steal your breath away as no digital Balrog can, must have come as a relief to Hollywood'scarbon-based talent pool. Yes, actors still have their uses. Blanchett showed off three in the space of a single holiday season, nailing roles as diverse as the aforementioned figment of Oxford imagination; a Scottish spy passing for a French housemaid (Charlotte Gray): and, in a performance in which she usurped Cher's mantle of white-trash-charisma-queen, an all-American slattern named Petal (The Shipping News). Oh, and there was alos her role as the unhinged housewife with flashing eyes in last October's underappreciated Bandits. More people should have seen her steal the picture."

Photograph by Annie Leibovitz

4-17-02 Latest News

KiwiSamFan visits the awesome Weathertop location
Tehanu @ 2:01 pm EST

Intrepid Kiwi explorer and LOTR fan KiwiSamFan managed to find the location that was used in filming Weathertop. About 2 years ago Thorongil and I went looking for the same location but we didn't have her luck! [More though we felt pretty happy that we'd found a whole lot of bizarre limestone formations like it, out there in the middle of nowhere, so we were pretty close. But not as close as KiwiSamFan got!

"I found Weathertop!! How lucky am I!?? I knew the general area that it was in and thought why not have a look, what have I got to lose? So out I went down a gravel road through some spectacular scenery...I knew I was on the right track as there were some amazing rock formations that reminded me of Weathertop...Can you believe that the first farmhouse that I picked to go up to was the right one...??

I found the farmer and said to him this might sound a bit weird but was LOTR filmed out here and he was like yes, um how did you know that? I said that I knew it was in this area and that I figured I would ask around and there I was...He said that if I went up the hill past the woolshed I would be able to see it. He told me to get on the back of his very cool 4-wheel bike and he would take me up...I knew it as soon as I saw it, it is so distinctive, I took a couple of photos but my camera doesn't have a zoom and it was quite far away, I guess I must have looked a bit sad because he said come on I'll take you out there...WHOOPEE!!

It took about 35 minutes lots of bumps up hill down dale stuff, it was a real white knuckle ride! I felt like I was clinging on for dear life. I said "are you sure that we won't tip over?" He just laughed, we went real fast it was so much fun I screamed my head off...I could see that we were getting closer and closer he stopped a few times for me to take photos...then we were there! I could see the overhanging limestone outcrop where Sam, Pippin and Merry had their fire and made their tomatoes and nice crispy bacon just before the Ringwraiths approached and Frodo woke up to put the fire out. I climbed right up there - what an awesome feeling to be standing there, great view too.

The farmer is such a wonderful guy! I never dreamed that he would take me all the way out there...He has been there for only 8 months so he wasn't there when they filmed, he said that I am the first person to go out there and ask to see the site how amazing is that I felt sure people would be interested in it...He said that he would be happy for me to visit again and to bring a few people out, he said if I wanted to I could camp out there like they did in the film, how cool would that be...All he asks is that next time I come I bring a couple of dozen beers - What a great guy eh! I posted about this on the discussion board got a good response too, I just had to share it with all my TORnsibs and you."

Anyone wanting to join KiwiSamFan on another expedition, if you can't find her on the messageboard then email me and I'll send on your request. It's REALLY out of the way, you'd need a car.

4-14-02 Latest News

Weekend Round Up
Xoanon @ 12:38 am EST

Bean's 'Tom and Thomas' Opens In Toronto

Media Watch: Roadshow Magazine

Utah's own Shire

Sir Ian's going out with a Kiwi

I Know Who Figwit Is....

Moby The Geek

TTT & ROTK Footage At Armageddon Expo In NZ?

I Don't Know From Figwit...

School Gets Lesson in Show Biz

GAMING: Gamehelper.com Interviews Jeff Everett Of Universal Interactive

Rings raises NZ's Profile

Hobbit actor hospitalised

Media Watch: TTT pics on The Sun

Figwit? Or Lardolas?

Hall Of Fire Chats For April 13th & 14th

Weekly Cast Watch
Xoanon @ 12:30 am EST

To get more information, use the sites I use like the ones below. Simply find a movie or actor you want to see, go to one of the sites below and see if the film is playing in your area.

mydigiguide.com, tv-now.com and IMDB.com


Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)

28 Days (2000) UK
Walk on the Moon, A (1999) UK
Pistola de mi hermano, La (1997)
Crimson Tide (1995)
Crew, The (1994)
Young Americans, The (1993)
Young Guns II (1990)

Liv Tyler (Arwen)

Dr. T & the Women (2000)
Plunkett & Macleane (1999) UK
Onegin (1999) UK
U Turn (1997)
That Thing You Do! (1996) UK

Ian Holm (Bilbo)

Joe Gould's Secret (2000)
Bless the Child (2000)
Beautiful Joe (2000)
Last of the Blonde Bombshells, The (2000) (TV)
Simon Magus (1999/I) UK
eXistenZ (1999) UK
Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998) (TV)
Incognito (1997)
Life Less Ordinary, A (1997)
King Lear (1997) (TV) UK
Hamlet (1990) UK
Dance with a Stranger (1985) UK
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) UK
Chariots of Fire (1981) UK
Time Bandits (1981)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) (TV)
Alien (1979) UK
Shout at the Devil (1976)
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) UK
Fixer, The (1968) UK

Sean Bean (Boromir)

Don't Say a Word (2001)
Stormy Monday (1988)
Caravaggio (1986) UK

Martyn Sanderson (Bree Gatekeeper)

Ned Kelly (1970)

John Noble (Denethor)

Superfire (2002) (TV)
Airtight (1999) (TV) UK

Peter Mackenzie (Elendil)

Chill Factor (1999) UK
Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)
Speechless (1994) UK
Off Limits (1988)

Hugo Weaving (Elrond)

Strange Planet (1999)
Bedrooms and Hallways (1998) UK

Miranda Otto (Eowyn)

What Lies Beneath (2000)
Jack Bull, The (1999) (TV) UK
Love Serenade (1996)

David Wenham (Faramir)

Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Cosi (1996)

Cameron Rhodes (Farmer Maggot)

Absent Without Leave (1992) UK

Elijah Wood (Frodo)

Bumblebee Flies Anyway, The (2000)
North (1994)
Good Son, The (1993) UK
Paradise (1991)
Internal Affairs (1990)
Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)

Man Who Cried, The (2000)
Gift, The (2000) UK
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999)
Pushing Tin (1999) UK
Paradise Road (1997)

Ian McKellen (Gandalf)

X-Men (2000) UK
Apt Pupil (1998)
Bent (1997)
Jack and Sarah (1995) UK
Plenty (1985) UK
Alfred the Great (1969) UK

John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)

Secret of the Andes (1998) UK
Protector, The (1997/I)
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (V) UK
Marquis de Sade (1996)
Great White Hype, The (1996)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing (1992) (TV)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) (TV)
Firewalker (1986) UK
Victor/Victoria (1982) UK
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1982) UK
Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, A (1979) UK

Andy Serkis (Gollum)

Topsy-Turvy (1999) UK
Among Giants (1998) UK

Dominic Monaghan (Merry)

Hostile Waters (1997) (TV)

Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)

Moby Dick (1998) (TV)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) UK
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) UK

Sean Astin (Sam)

Sky Is Falling, The (2000)
Deterrence (1999) UK
Icebreaker (1999)
Dish Dogs (1998)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Toy Soldiers (1991)
Staying Together (1989)
War of the Roses, The (1989) UK

Christopher Lee (Saruman)

Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK
Honeymoon Academy (1990)
Safari 3000 (1982)
Last Unicorn, The (1982)
Eye for an Eye, An (1981)
Four Musketeers, The (1974)
Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974) UK
Three Musketeers, The (1973) UK
City of the Dead, The (1960)
Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) UK
Scott of the Antarctic (1948)
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) UK

Brian Sergent (Ted Sandyman)

Absent Without Leave (1992) UK

Bernard Hill (Theoden)

Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1999) UK
Loss of Sexual Innocence, The (1999) UK
Ghost and the Darkness, The (1996) UK
Shirley Valentine (1989) UK
Gandhi (1982) UK

Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)

Prophecy 3: The Ascent, The (2000) (V) UK
Ghost, The (2000)
Storytellers, The (1999) UK
Best Men (1997) UK
Murder in the First (1995) UK
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Child's Play 3 (1991) UK
Child's Play 2 (1990) UK
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Child's Play (1988)
Dune (1984) UK

Jim Rygiel (SFX)

Anna and the King (1999)
Multiplicity (1996)
Outbreak (1995)
Cliffhanger (1993)
Batman Returns (1992)
Ghost (1990)
2010 (1984)
Last Starfighter, The (1984)

Howard Shore (Composer)

Yards, The (2000)
High Fidelity (2000)
Cell, The (2000)
Analyze This (1999)
eXistenZ (1999)
Dogma (1999)
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Striptease (1996)
Before and After (1996)
White Man's Burden (1995)
Se7en (1995)
Nobody's Fool (1994)
M. Butterfly (1993)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
She-Devil (1989)
Fly, The (1986)
Fire with Fire (1986)
After Hours (1985)
Places in the Heart (1984)
Videodrome (1983)
Scanners (1981)

4-14-02 Latest News

Media Watch: Roadshow Magazine
Xoanon @ 10:52 pm EST

Ringer Spy Kathy sends along these great scans from Japanese Magazine 'Roadshow'.


Moby The Geek
Xoanon @ 1:32 pm EST

ainjull writes:

This is a little follow up to Sean Bean's appearance on Moby's "We Are All Made of Stars." Moby(www.moby.com) has an online diary where he keeps his fans updated; on Saturday April 13, 2002 he wrote:

=========
Sean Bean
4/13/2002 - Los Angeles

i just have to say, simply, that having sean bean in the 'we are all made of stars' video makes me really happy.

all of the people who agreed to be in the video make me happy, but sean bean in particular. and it's amazing that someone who's been in so many movies, and who's such a remarkable actor would still be relatively unkown.

it's safe to say that almost everyone in the western world has seen him in a movie, but i still get asked 'whos that?' when he appears in the 'we are all made of stars' video.

he was boromir in 'lord of the rings' and he was in ronin, and goldeneye, and patriot games, and etc, and etc. i don't know why he agreed to be in the 'we are all made of stars' video, but i'm honored that he did. i'm, of course, honored that everyone else agreed to be in the 'stars' video, too.

but maybe cos i'm such a geek and cos i grew up reading 'lord of the rings' over and over again, i can't believe that boromir is in my video.

maybe i'll go see 'lord of the rings' again. i know, i'm a geek, but it really is a remarkable movie.

moby

I Don't Know From Figwit...
Tookish @ 1:10 pm EST

... but there are many character names revealed in Decipher's LotR Trading Card Game. Here's a list frmo my own collection, which is incomplete. There is also another update coming... Realms of the Elf Lords, which may tell more!

Elves: Silinde of Mirkwood; Rumil, Elven Protector; Orophin, Lorien Bowman; and Uruviel, Maid of Lorien.

Dwarves: Gimli's companions - Thrarin, Dwarven Smith; Farin, Dwarven Emissary; Grimir, Dwarven Elder; Fror, Gimli's Kinsman; and Gloin, Friend of Thorin (and of course Gimli's father but that is not what the card text reads).

Humans: Bill Ferney (at the Pony); Albert Dreary (PJ); three men at the Council - Erland, Advisor to Brand; Hugin, Emissary from Laketown; and Jarnsmid, Merchant from Dale.

And a hobbit: Filibert Bolger, Wily Rascal (at Bilbo's party).

I don't know how the Decipher folks came up with these character names, but I'll drop them a line to see.

4-11-02 Latest News

Gollum, The Family Man
Xoanon @ 11:28 am EST

Ringer Spy Albertine sends along a very rare Andy Serkis (Gollum) article, the main focus of the piece is Lorraine Ashbourne, Serkis' long time partner. But there are a few interesting LOTR remarks:

"Andy and I have made an agreement that only one of us is going to be away working at a time, so when he's filming - which he's doing a lot of at the moment - I'll be here. Although the LOTR movies have been shot, there are going to be some reshoots, which means he'll be away."

"During her 12-month break from acting, Lorraine and the children accompanied Andrew to New-Zealand. (...) The powers that be have decided not to unveil Gollum in full until the second instalment and, to maintain the surprise, Andy has been asked not to discuss the role for the time being.

Lorraine, however, reveals fans will be amazed when the character finally appears. "The transformation of Andy into Gollum is amazing. It took about 13 hours each time and involved his entire body because he's supposed to be about 180 years old. His skin looks almost transparent", she says. "When I first saw him like that it brought tears to my eyes; he was unrecognisable.

I'm an actor and used to make-up but seeing my own partner like that was phenomenal."

She is full of praise for Andy's film. "The locations for LOTR are out of this world. They shot on top of glaciers, they shot in caves, they shot in prehistoric forests. It was absolutely amazing and we had the good fortune to be there", she says. "Peter Jackson, who directed the film, and his wife, Fran, who's co-written it, are superbly talented and just the right people to be behind it".

4-10-02 Latest News

Media Watch: Marie Claire Germany
Xoanon @ 10:37 pm EST

Marie-Claire Germany, March edition

Cate the Great

This is her year : Cate Blanchett has three big films coming out. Marie-Claire reporter Nicole von Bredow met an enthusiastic young mother, who openly talks about her private life.

Because of her, I slept badly for two nights. Because Cate Blanchett is as capricious as a queen. She doesn’t give interviews, she allows audiences in. I met the actress three times already, and each time I was presented with a different side of her personality. Once she seemed severe, once attentive and careful. But on our last encounter, Cate totally gave me the bus-off. Because of two questions. About her private life and about fashion. No, she won't talk about those things. He who dares to infringe these interdictions will be met with a scornful smile, or frosty silence.

Thus, on our fourth encounter, I am prepared for the worst. That’s where she rushes to me in the London Dorchester hotel, greets me like a friend, hugs me. Babbles laughingly about her breast: “It’s at least four times bigger than before”. After all, she’s still nursing her son Dashiell John, born in December.
We drop in two sofas. Laughing. Cate is wearing no make-up except for a touch of lip gloss. The colour of her eyes? At least as hard to define as her. Depending on the atmosphere and lighting, their turn turquoise, or shine with a blue or grey-blue tinge. Cate is wearing tight black pants, a see-through chiffon-top and black satin shoes.

“They’re Gucci”. “Totally comfortable in spite of the high heels, otherwise I wouldn’t be wearing them”. While she fingers the satin-ribbon that circles her ankle, she adds, “I bought them because they remind me of ballet. I love ballet.”

What was that again – no fashion statement? Even Queen Cate suddenly seems to remember her own decree: “It totally annoys me that actors and actresses should be rated differently. With the men, one talks of skills. With the women, only beauty and styling count. In Hollywood, the wrong dress can even endanger your career.” A faux pas that the fashion- conscious actress will not let happen. The fashion police acknowledges her style and elegance whenever she makes a public appearance.

Instinct and taste also govern her choice of roles.

Her fame started in 1998 with Renaissance monarch “Elizabeth”. She then convincingly portrayed wealthy Erbin Meredith in the Highsmith adaptation of “The talented Mr. Ripley. In the “Gift”, her interpretation of a widowed mother of three who becomes a psychic reader to make a living was full of sensitivity. And recently, in “The Lord of the Rings”, she was Galadriel, etherial queen of elves.

In the coming weeks one will see her in two bestsellers adaptations. “The shipping news”, based on Annie Proulx, tells about eccentric characters in Newfoundland. In “Charlotte Gray”, adapted from the novel by Sebastian Faulk, Cate Blanchett embodies the Scottish heroin, who falls in love with a British pilot in 1942. When he fails to come back from a combat order in France, Charlotte decides to go and look for her lover beyond the enemy lines.

Cate Blanchett has long been a lover of Faulk’s book. She was moved to tears when reading it, because “even in apparently hopeless situations, Charlotte never loses faith”. When one knows of Cate’s own walk of life, one understands how personal that statement is. Cate was ten when her safe childhood world collapsed. A relative went to fetch the girl, her elder brothers and her small sister from a film show in their Melbourne home-town. At forty, Blanchett’s father had died of a heart attack. The mother had to raise the family on her own. When recalling those hard times, the actress quotes a line from the English writer William Thackeray: “The best that I can wish you, my child, is a little unhappiness”. Or in other words, what does not kill you makes you stronger.

“What my father taught me about life?”, she asks softly, immediately answering herself: “Carpe diem – enjoy the moment. Because life can be very short. That’s why I know how to cherish simple things”. In her London home in intellectual Hampstead she plods the garden, bakes bread, cooks, sleeps a lot.

She misses Australia, her home-country, a little. Sometime, she intends to go back. The laid-back way of life of her fellow Australians is more her type than that of the stiff Bristish. “I really don’t like to generalize. But we Australians actually are pragmatic, fearless and unfrightened”, she says. The Aussie-gene also came in handy when she had to deal with the hardships of the film industry. “Since I was raised at the arse of the world, I don’t take myself too seriously. And, given that Australians are so much out of the way, they have to achieve much more to reach the top“. Something her colleagues can confirm. Cate is considered to be an extremely concentrated worker, who knows exactly what she wants. “In front of the camera, I want to explore my limits. Above all, I want to try out complex characters. Fame doesn’t mean that much to me, only a good script does”.

That’s why she immediately agreed when Tom Tykwer offered her the front part in “Heaven”. The script of the story about this young teacher confronted with drugs was written by acclaimed Polish film director Krysztof Kieslowski, who died in 1996. Cate Blanchett still raves on about her collaboration with Tykwer : “I believe we are soul mates. He works in the same obsessive way I do. And Tom did a brilliant job out of a tricky task. He managed to preserve Kieslowski’s legacy without giving up his own self in the process.”

“Heaven” was filmed in Bottrope. Not exactly the appropriate place for a world-famous star. However, Cate was very excited: “I was totally delighted, because Pina Bausch’s dance theatre in Wuppertal was only a stone’s throw away.” Eventually, nothing came out of the visit”. “I wanted to see a performance – and guess where Pina Bausch was? In Australia. The one time in my life I come to Wuppertal, and the woman is in my native country”.

But Cate Blanchett knows how to handle disappointments in a philosophical way. “When something doesn’t work out, it’s often for reasons that show only in retrospect. In this I have a strong faith in God. I think that specific events and encounters in one’s walk of life are predetermined. Destiny can only accomplish itself when one is relaxed and composed.”
That’s how things must have happened in 1997, on the set of “The Wedding Party (Thank God he met Lizzie)”. That’s where she met her future husband, Australian scriptwriter Andrew Upton. “I really was very lucky, because it didn’t work out so well at first. But Andrew is a very wise man. He is my backbone, he gives me security.” For a few moments, it seems as if Cate Blanchett were lifting the protective armour from her private circle. Suddenly, the queen comes to her senses, quickly drops a few farewell words and walks away on her high heels.

Media Watch: She Magazine
Xoanon @ 8:14 am EST

Ringer Spy Caerwen sends along these scans from 'She Magazine' featuring Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) take a look!


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