Did you know that Cate Blanchett made a movie with Jack Black? For some reason, I want to believe that they had a ball together as they worked on The House with a Clock In Its Walls. That’s the film Cate was promoting in Rome late last week, at that Rome Film Festival. The movie has been out in America for weeks, but this was likely part of the European promotion for the film. Cate seems like the only one from The House with a Clock in Its Walls sent to Rome on promotion? She was probably there as part of her Armani contract too, although she did not actually wear Armani. Huh.

For the premiere, Cate wore this Maison Margiela gown, designed by John Galliano. Cate is an old-school fan of and believer in Galliano, and she stuck with him even when he was run out of Dior for his drunken hate speech. Say what you will about Galliano, but the man can still design the crap out of some couture. This gown is such DRAMA. I love it. I always love fashion more at the Rome Film Festival, for what it’s worth – the red carpet in Rome always makes clothes look more dramatic and enchanting. I’m also including photos of Cate at the photocall, wearing an Acne suit which is super-unflattering. Satin pleated pants, ick.

When in Rome, Cate was whether, at this point, straight actors need to stop playing LGBTQ roles in film and television. Cate thinks it’s fine:

“I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. Reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character. I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that we now, particularly in America, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when it’s close to their experience.”

[From BBC]

I don’t think Cate’s argument is bad, per se – people should be able to suspend disbelief, and many people do suspend disbelief. But along with that comes the difficult realization that there are those in the audience who only find gay characters palatable or acceptable if the audience believes that it’s just a straight actor “pretending.” Not to mention the fact that no openly gay actor has ever won an Oscar for an acting performance. Suspension of disbelief or ingrained homophobia?

Anyway, here’s the trailer for Cate’s silly new movie:

Photos courtesy of WENN.