Ciao! Here is a new set of interviews in relation to TÁR. Tomorrow, The Academy announces their nominees at 8:30 AM EST / 5:30 AM PT via Oscar.com and their social media accounts. Wishing the crew and cast of TÁR and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio the best of luck.

Interview is Google translated from French to English.

Cate Blanchett: ‘My ideal is to experiment, not to please’

FEMINA What drew you to this rather dark role?

Cate Blanchett The director and writer, Todd Field, quite simply! I always choose my projects according to the director and I have thus had the chance to collaborate, over the years, with creators who have a unique vision. Todd offered me the role of a musician who conducts one of the biggest symphony orchestras in Germany. She is at the top of her game, but her life will take an unexpected turn in the space of a few weeks.

He perfectly understands all the nuances of humanity. If he has not achieved anything for sixteen years, it is not by chance. He doesn’t leave his house for a movie set if he has nothing original to say and film. One should not look for good or evil in Tár, because the answer is not as simple as black and white.

Who is Lydia Tár, this conductor who is preparing a concerto of Mahler’s famous “Symphony number 5”?

She is one of the few women in the very masculine world of conductors. She is an extremely complex person, very critical of herself, in a quest for excellence that devours her. When we meet her at the start of the film, she is in a moment of transition. It’s always wonderful to tell a story when a chain of events can change everything…

Does such a role push you to reflect on yourself?

It’s hard, because I don’t think we have sincere opinions about ourselves. We are always the heroes or heroines of our own stories, right? We always think that we are misunderstood, that our actions are noble, that we are good people. But the reality can be very different, and it’s this approach that fascinates me in cinema.

Lydia may appear to some as a repugnant person because of her actions…

My opinion and my judgment of her are completely irrelevant. What’s really important to me is allowing the audience to see the nuances of his personality.

How can you be demanding, but do it with respect? I think the movie doesn’t make it easy to judge Lydia. I wanted to show how complicated her world can be in certain situations. It was important that I not pass judgment on her because otherwise I would have influenced the public in their perception of Lydia. It’s up to everyone to form their own opinion at the end of the film.

Isn’t it hard to play a woman you can hate?

Not for me. There’s a thing in showbiz called vanity. An artist likes to be desired and loved by the public. I always wanted to go in the opposite direction. My ideal is to experience new things, not to please. And I never try to be at the heart of the narrative.

Even though Tár unfolds around my character, I see it as a collective experience that wouldn’t have been possible without the extraordinary actresses around me like Nina Hoss and Noémie Merlant.

Are you hoping to land another Best Actress Oscar for your performance?

It doesn’t add anything to my life to think about it, nor to my work! I’d rather take care of my garden and my family than worry about what people can write or say about my little person.

— FEMINA

Cate Blanchett speaks to ABC Radio. Click image to listen.