Cate Blanchett plays a woman named Jasmine in her new film Blue Jasmine, in which she stars opposite Alec Baldwin, whose world is turned upside down when her husband gets caught in a Bernie Madoff-type financial conning scheme.
The film is both written and directed by Woody Allen, and the Oscar winner talked to ABC News about how she prepared for it.
She admits she did research Madoff’s wife, Ruth, and did follow the case but she didn’t base her character off of anyone in particular.
“Like everybody else, I had followed that phenomenal betrayal and transgression. But that’s a movie in and of itself; I mean, I think that’s just in everyone’s consciousness,” she told Vanity Fair.
“There’s thousands of women like her that have fallen from grace in recent years, whose identity is being built and structured around their partner, their social standing, their economic standing and all that’s gone, so they have to ask themselves, “Who am I?”" she said to ABC News about her character starting over after hitting rock bottom.
Blanchett happened to be in New York City before shooting began so she made sure to do her research at places socialites would be.
“I hung out at a few restaurants and listened in to a few conversations,” she said. “I happened to be in New York, performing in a production of ‘Uncle Vanya’ for two weeks before we started shooting, so I spent my days prowling around Gucci and Prada and Jimmy Choo just checking people out.”
As for the character, she explains it by saying “I think there’s a lot of people who live in a fantasy world rather than look reality in the cold hard light of day. It’s often an easier, more pleasant choice.”
Blue Jasmine hits theaters on Friday, July 26.
image: Wikimedia Commons
