FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Jan 14, 2016

Speaking of actors...

...I recently watched this Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable and Tribute to Diversity in Cinema (ha ha just kidding, they're all super white!) and while an hour is a big commitment, I would sincerely like to draw your attention to one thing. Begin at 23:07 for context; the one thing happens about 25 seconds later.


Yes, I saw that and then I died, and I am now blogging from beyond the grave.

For those of you unable to watch, here's the lowdown: the interviewer asks Kate Winslet if there's anything she would never do as an actress. She replies that she wouldn't do a film that features violence against children, nor does she think she would ever do a horror film...

...to which Cate Blanchett (TRUE QUEEN) replies, very seriously and earnestly, "Oh, I love horror films. I love them."

She talks a bit about horror that feels too gratuitous or exploitative (particularly in regards to violence against women) and pointless, but I love that she's talking about them seriously at all. She loves horror films, you guys. How many A listers–particularly actresses–would even acknowledge the genre, never mind admitting to indulging in it? The reaction to her statement at the table is bafflement, it's so great.

Someone needs to give her a juicy horror script right this second. A del Toro joint? Something from Peter Strickland maybe? A re-team with Sam Raimi? Ooh, maybe she can reprise her role as Carol except now Carol is a Carmilla. Did any of you win that big lottery yesterday? Fund this shit, please!

7 comments:

CashBailey said...

One could almost call HEAVENLY CREATURES a horror film. But that was the first thing she did.

What an odd thing to say. I love Kate Winslet more than breathing but how can she dismiss the breadth of amazing artists working in horror like that?

And Cate Blanchett is Australian, so she was based from birth. :-D

Stacie Ponder said...

I thought of HEAVENLY CREATURES as well, not that it's horror but it's certainly horrific...and coming of the heels of DEAD ALIVE for Jackson. Of course, her tastes and what she's willing to do may have changed in the 20 years (GOOD LORD) since then.

I think it's foolish for an actor to cross an entire genre off his or her list, but at the same time I get it. Since horror films get mainstream accolades so very rarely, people not versed in the genre think it's all slasher movie garbage, or that at the least they're all gory and violent and misogynist. Hopefully more films like THE BABADOOK come along and change perceptions–even if it was a disappointment to some horror fans, I think it pushes boundaries for the genre into the realm of the respectable.

CashBailey said...

Cate Blanchett as Morticia Addams in a reboot of the series.

With Christina Ricci as a grown-up Wednesday Addams and Aubrey Plaza as her even more evil cousin.

Not that I've been thinking about this for some time beforehand or anything... :-P

philip n said...

"Do you find them funny?" "No. I find them scary."

Bam! Go Cate!

I think that biggest boon to the genre in the next few years might be the slow death of the mid-budget Hollywood feature. Marvel/Star Wars can't accommodate every actor in Hollywood, so some of them might become more open to the idea of doing genre films.

Oh, and Peter Strickland + Cate Blanchett - please let this become a thing.

Eliot Blades said...

I was watching Stakeland last night - thinking how good Kelly McGillis was and then being reminded that she was absolutely awesome in The Innkeepers too. I can imagine if you're a so-called A-lister you would look at what happened to Halle Berry and steer away from - not just horror - but so-called genre pics all together (Berry went from an Oscar to Catwoman, X-Men and Gothika). Though with Berry she has the double battle of being female and black I guess.

Anyway, if I have the choice of two films and one of them stars Winslet and the other stars Barbara Crampton I know which one I'm going to watch.

Stacie Ponder said...

Ha! "CashBailey's Addams Family"–Aubrey Plaza would be so great.

@philip n - CAN YOU IMAGINE CATE BLANCHETT AND PETER STRICKLAND?? IT WOULD BE SO AMAZING I HAVE TO YELL ABOUT IT

Stacie Ponder said...

I never would have figured that McGillis's comeback would be in cerebral indie horror, but she's doing some really great stuff and it's heartening to see. She was terrific in WE ARE WHAT WE ARE as well, and I hope she keeps getting cast (and Crampton, too–her renaissance is one of the advantages to the idea that "horror fans grow up and make horror films").