The actor’s role as an abusive maestro is her most powerful – and controversial – yet. The Oscar favourite discusses fame, missing Australia and the strong reactions Tár has provoked
When Cate Blanchett was a nine-year-old attending music classes in suburban Melbourne, it was her teacher, Mrs McCall, who first noticed where her talents lay. “I remember one day, I was playing the piano,” she recalls, “and Mrs McCall put her hand on my hand and said, ‘You haven’t practised, have you?’ I just burst into tears and said, ‘No, I haven’t.’ And she said, ‘I think we should stop, because I don’t think you want to be a pianist, you want to be an actor.’”
Though she was disappointed at the time, Blanchett now realises how perceptive her music teacher was.
“She would have these concerts and she instinctively picked up on how I would just come along and act the part of a musician.”
