At the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett opened up about gender imbalance in Hollywood and shared her thoughts on how the #MeToo movement lost momentum over the years.
During a conversation on the sidelines of the festival on Sunday, the Oscar-winning actor said she finds it surprising how quickly the movement faded in the industry despite the conversations it started worldwide.
“It got killed very quickly, which I think is interesting,” Blanchett said, as quoted by Associated Press.
The actor also spoke about the difference between powerful voices in the industry and everyday people trying to speak up about their experiences.
“There are a lot of people with platforms who are able to speak up with relative safety and say this has happened to me,” she said. “And the so-called average woman on the street, person on the street, is saying MeToo. Why does that get shut down?”
Blanchett, who has often spoken about gender equality in cinema, said she still notices a huge gap between men and women on film sets even today.
“I’m still on film sets and I do the headcount every day. There’s 10 women and 75 men every morning,” she revealed.
She added that working in spaces dominated by one group can become repetitive and uncomfortable over time.
“I love men, but what happens is the jokes become the same,” Blanchett shared. “You just have to brace yourself slightly, and I’m used to that, but it just gets boring for everybody when you walk into a homogeneous workplace.”
Cate Blanchett’s Cannes Protest In 2018
In 2018, Cate Blanchett led a protest at the Cannes Film Festival when she was serving as jury president. Back then, she stood on the red carpet with more than 80 women, including Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek and Marion Cotillard.
The number symbolised the total female directors selected in Cannes competition history, compared to 1,866 male directors over the same period.
At the time, Blanchett and late filmmaker Agnes Varda had said, “As women, we all face our own unique challenges, but we stand together on these stairs today as a symbol of our determination and commitment to progress,” as quoted by The Independent.
