Cate Blanchett rocks, baby

Cate Blanchett and her husband are big fans of Sonic Youth. That's Thurston Moore's crunchy 20-year-old fringe rock group.

From: Fox News, 2003-11-05
Date added: 2003-11-15

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Blanchett, who stars in "The Missing" — Ron Howard's first film since "A Beautiful Mind" – was in town last night for the film's premiere along with co-stars Tommy Lee Jones, Evan Rachel Wood, and Jenna Boyd.

Since "The Missing" is a western, Blanchett — who is Australian — plays sort of a female action hero of the plains, a role sure to get her an Oscar nomination for best actress. As an avenging mother, she rides horses, shoots rifles and gets the bad guys.

"I didn't know how to shoot a gun or hold it," she told me after the screening was over. Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Eric Stoltz, Keri Russell and Dominic West — the cad from "Mona Lisa Smile" — were also floating around.

"So my husband said, 'Just hold it the way that Sonic Youth holds their guitars.' And it worked." Did she know she could do any of the stunts she pulls off in the film? "I didn't, and I don't miss having a gun. I do miss the riding," she said.

Blanchett — nominated for best actress in 1999 for "Elizabeth" and robbed for a nomination in 2001 for "Bandits" — could wind up missing awards season if all things don't time out right. She's pregnant with her second child, due in the spring.

That would be a shame, too, because she should be in the Nicole Kidman category now of top-tier actresses. Her other film this year, "Veronica Guerin," showed she could do anything even when the movie doesn't live up to expectations.

Thanks, Pavel!

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