Cate Blanchett: ‘I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting’

Cate Blanchett doesn’t get a ton of tabloid interest, even though she’s very well-known and well-connected. In the past decade, I believe Cate and her family have lived full-time in England, where they have a country estate. Cate is constantly working and traveling though – she’s got beauty contracts, fashion contracts, and she’s always showing up for fashion designer friends and various palace events too. She’s got a steady stream of TV projects and films as well. All of that, and she works consistently in theater in London, New York and Sydney. I would think that the larger problem is that Cate is really burned out from working and traveling so much. Maybe that burnout is what inspired her to make these comments:

Actress Cate Blanchett has said she is “serious about giving up acting” as there are “lots of things I want to do with my life”.

The 55-year-old is preparing to star in her first radio drama in BBC Radio 4’s The Fever and told the Radio Times she is still not totally comfortable with being a celebrity.

She said: “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. (There are) a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

The Australian most recently starred in the spy thriller Black Bag (2025), and has won two Oscars for best supporting actress in The Aviator (2005) and best actress in Blue Jasmine (2013).

Speaking about her experience of being a celebrity she added: “When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicised, they sound really loud. I’m not that person. I make more sense in motion – it’s been a long time to remotely get comfortable with the idea of being photographed. I’ve always felt like I’m on the periphery of things, so I’m always surprised when I belong anywhere. I go with curiosity into whatever environment that I’m in, not expecting to be accepted or welcomed. I’ve spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.”

[From The Evening Standard]

As I said, Cate works at an insane pace. Her IMDB page has been bonkers for years. Cate and Nicole Kidman are similar in that way – they like to say “yes” to people and help get smaller projects off the ground. Cate is even more hardcore because she’s regularly doing plays as well. Anyway, instead of retiring, maybe Cate should compromise and maybe just limit herself to one project a year? That might help with the burnout. And she doesn’t have to show up for ALL of those fashion events, just sayin’.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.