Metro Weekly

Cate Blanchett denies having had lesbian affairs

Speaking at Cannes, the star of Carol refutes Variety magazine interview

“From memory, the conversation ran, ‘Have you had relationships with women?’ And I said, ‘Yes, many times. If you mean I’ve had sexual relationships with them, the answer is ‘No’ — but that obviously didn’t make it to print. But in 2015, the point should be: Who cares?”

Cate Blanchett in Carol
Cate Blanchett in Carol

Cate Blanchett, denying on Sunday that she had affairs with women, insinuated in an interview published in Variety.

Blanchett was at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in France, promoting her forthcoming film Carol. Directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven), the drama depicts a lesbian affair between a wealthy socialite (Blanchett) and a shopgirl (Rooney Mara). “It was the first sort of lesbian story that had a happy ending,” Blanchett said at a press conference.

Based on the 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Carol is set in the 1950s, a “morally murky time and place,” said Haynes at the press conference for the film’s premiere. He added the film is part tribute to David Lean’s classic 1945 weepie, Brief Encounter.

Watch official clips from the film below.

 

Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism

These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!