"It's not my job—and it's certainly not my interest—to get up there and tell the world who I am," states one of the world's most acclaimed actors, Cate Blanchett. Not peevishly —just to clarify.

Of course, the world is interested anyway. In the slipstream of acclaim garnered by her emotionally raw performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Blanchett is in London to attend the movie's premiere. In NYC, she is also emblazoned across billboards as the cucumber-cool face of Giorgio Armani's new fragrance, Sì.

Talking about her amazing year since her tenure as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company ended, our conversation turns to the psychological tightrope that all celebrated actors must walk between performance, real life and public persona—as seen through the distorting lens of global fame.

Whatever, maintains Blanchett. "It doesn't matter. The public 'Cate Blanchett' is not actually who I am, so it doesn't worry me at all," she says. "Acting is about holding up a mirror and reflecting people back at themselves, which I know sounds clichéd and wordy. But I am who I am and that's the person my family knows. If you see me on stage or in a movie, you see a different side."

Make that so , so many different sides. As opposed to actors who largely play what passes for 'themselves' in vehicles , Blanchett's famous and eerie ability to shapeshift has been the hallmark of our fascination and respect since she levitated from the Sydney theatre world in her 1998 breakout title role in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth, humanising British history's most compelling queen.

Blanchett has smashed it on the world stage ever since. There are the bold, quirky career choices, including gender bending as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There ; a pantheon of plum stage roles such as Blanche DuBois and Hedda Gabler ; the Streepian ability to completely disappear into fully realised portrayals, each one unrecognisable from the next. And the classy, Teflon-coated private life, anchored by a famously strong marriage to playwright Andrew Upton and their three boys: Dashiell, 11, Roman, nine, and Ignatius, five. Oh, and that patrician beauty the camera devours.

But that intimidatingly perfect aura melts away when you meet or talk to the 44-year-old Blanchett. The hauteur of her appearance belies an amazing volubility —the lady loves to talk. I first interviewed her over coffee and cake at a cafe in Sydney's Balmain six years ago, when she was bursting with excitement about taking the helm at the STC alongside Upton—clearly a dream project for such theatre creatures. Dressed in bohemian-mum mode, twisting her hair in her fingers and talking earnestly about the rehearsal process, she was far more jobbing actor than frosty movie star.

Our next meeting, backstage at the STC this year, followed her electric performance in Jean Genet's The Maids, which is about as dark as it gets. After conjuring the play's highly stylised, sadomasochistic mind games onstage, lurching between abasement and demented grandeur, Blanchett strolled in purposefully in cream slacks and silk shirt to meet-and-greet the press after the show. She deftly took on all the questions and wonderment at the weird disconnect between being in and out of character. "How do you come down afterwards?"

"Well, there is no hope at the end of the play, really. No edifying ending. It's all bad—that's Genet …" she laughs. And her mood is light.

This meeting bookends Blanchett's five-year tenure as co-artistic director—it has ended while Upton stays on solo. Although Blanchett has described the past five years as the most creative of her life, she is now free to answer cinema's siren call. Blanchett returns to screens next year in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups with Christian Bale, and will shoot David Mamet thriller Blackbird opposite Catherine Keener as well as heist drama Triple Nine with Christoph Waltz. But right now it's Oscar-buzz time in anticipation of January's nominations. How can it not be? Blue Jasmine is the kind of rare female-centric film that performers relish —one of the best since Blanchett succumbed to the grip of Judi Dench's covetous lesbian predator in Notes on a Scandal (2006).

Accepting the title role in Blue Jasmine without reading the script as a nod to auteur Woody Allen, Blanchett is riveting as the Park Avenue wife who loses everything—including her grip on reality. The emotional intensity of her performance is a huge departure from Allen's usual mannered, smart-funny New Yorker dialogue. But, in our recent phone conversation, I confess how funny I found Jasmine as she recoils from all the attendant horrors of leaving her gilded cage.

"There's that schadenfreude , isn't there? We do delight in other people's downfalls. And Woody is so brilliant at finding the comedy in the absurd and the tragic; that's his hallmark, I think."

Always a sucker for the messy glamour of a drama-queen character in freefall, I'm not the least surprised that Blue Jasmine has resonated with audiences. "We all theatricalise ourselves," theorises Blanchett, "particularly in the face of social media. We're constantly acting out this other self, without seeing how pompous and unreal we are being, or how tenuous our grip on reality actually is. Perhaps people are connecting with somebody whose vision of themselves doesn't fit into the way the world actually works. It's quite comic …"

Blanchett's thoroughbred physicality is pitch-perfect in the film, adding an irresistible grace note to Jasmine's denial. Wearing a glittering cardigan shrugged over a tapered dress that clings to her pin-thin figure like molten gold, she exudes wealth and sophistication, visually transcending the slings and arrows of corporate corruption, pills, booze and bankruptcy even as her psychological and financial world crumbles around her.

It's this ability to shine—with the added depth of her talent—that makes Blanchett a natural fit for the Armani brand. When asked to define elegance, Italy's fashion maestro describes it as "that natural lightness of touch that is a form of deep sophistication, and an indication of self-assurance." So Blanchett, who wears her talent and beauty with said lightness of touch, was a fabulous choice for the launch of his new signature woman's fragrance, Sì.

Blanchett's career may also play the whole spectrum. Her counterintuitive turn as the trashy, malevolent sexual force in 2001's The Shipping News haunts me still. But it's her recurring role as the regal elf queen, Galadriel, in the adaptations of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit that embodies her other-worldly quality. The elfin goddess returns this Boxing Day in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (with the last instalment due next year). What on (Middle) Earth is it like to show up for a film that is so largely crafted in post-production?

"Of course it's more difficult to suspend disbelief and take yourself seriously when there's so much green screen, but this is where the director comes in. Someone like a Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson is your bridge to the animated world and your character; you just entirely believe in the universe. There's still quite a lot of the magic on the set, and the costumes are there. Peter [director of The Hobbit] does the rest, communicating the circumstances, character motivation, what's coming to bear. You fall into his natural ability as a storyteller. What could be better?"

We talk about being mothers of sons and wanting to raise good men. "I think it's the example you set as a woman. The other day, my middle son spent the entire evening talking to a make-up artist and really good friend of mine about her new scent and how his favourite smell is cinnamon," she says. "I'm quite pleased that they don't seem to demarcate the difference between traditionally feminine and masculine concerns. That's quite elastic for them."

Blanchett believes their upbringing has made her sons into theatre kids. "It's [spending] the past formative five years backstage. They see the fun and also the hard work of a collective endeavour that's not just about the actors, but also the skills of the people in workshop and the hard work at the box office. They get that it's about more than the person in front of the curtain or on the 30-foot screen, that so-called celebrity stuff that the world is obsessed with."

And who does she think is worth obsessing over? Who would she take into deep space? "My husband," she responds promptly, "for the entertainment value. I mean, I'm obsessed with Julian Assange , but I wouldn't take him into deep space."

“来到这里，告诉世人我是谁——这不是我的工作，也绝非我的兴趣。”说这话的，是世界上最负盛誉的演员之一——凯特·布兰切特。她并不是脾气坏，只是在澄清自己。

当然，无论如何世人对她都是充满兴趣的。布兰切特在伍迪·艾伦的影片《蓝色茉莉》中情感饱满的演出不断收获好评，而她本人正在伦敦出席该片的首映式（编注：英文原文刊发于2013年11月）。在纽约，她那镇定自若的面容也出现在大型的广告牌上，为乔治·阿玛尼新推出的香水Sì代言。

谈到她卸任悉尼戏剧团联合艺术指导之后的这精彩的一年，我们的话题要转向所有著名演员都要面对的一个棘手的心理问题，那就是如何拿捏表演、现实生活和公众形象之间的分寸——因为人们是透过“国际盛名”这个扭曲的镜片来看待她的。

布兰切特对此表示无所谓。“我并不在意这些。公众眼中的‘凯特·布兰切特’并不是真正的我，我完全不会为此感到困扰，”她说，“表演就如同举起一面镜子，让人们从中照见自己，我知道这话听起来像是啰唆的老生常谈。但我就是我，是我的家人认识的那个我。如果你在舞台或银幕上看到我，你看到的是我的另一面。”

应该说，她有另外好多面。1998年，从悉尼戏剧舞台横空出世的布兰切特在谢加·凯普尔执导的《伊丽莎白》中突破性演绎了影片的同名角色，她的表演赋予了英国历史上最引人注目的女王人性化的特征，自那以后，她那著名的、能演绎各类角色的惊人演技就成了她的标志性特征，让我们为之迷恋和尊敬。而这也使布兰切特与那些主要在为自己量身定制的影片中本色出演的演员截然不同。

从那时起，布兰切特就在国际舞台上一发而不可收。她大胆挑战了一些不同寻常的角色，比如，她在《我不在那儿》中反串饰演了鲍勃·迪伦；另外，她还出演了布兰奇·杜波依斯和海达·高布乐等一系列令人垂涎的著名舞台角色；她有斯特里普似的能力，能完全融入角色，将角色演绎得栩栩如生，而且每个角色都绝不雷同。而她在戏外品味高雅，将私生活保护得严严实实，这些都有赖于她与编剧安德鲁·厄普顿那出了名的稳定婚姻和他们的三个儿子：11岁的达希尔、9岁的罗曼和5岁的伊格纳提乌斯。哦，还有，她那具有贵族气质的美丽容颜一直为镜头所钟爱。

但是，当你与44岁的布兰切特会面或与她交谈时，那层完美得令人望而却步的光环便会消散。在高傲外表的掩盖下，她其实是一个十分健谈的人——这个女人喜欢说话。我第一次采访她，是六年前在悉尼波梅茵的一家咖啡馆里边享用咖啡和点心边进行的。当时，我们谈及了她与厄普顿共同执掌悉尼戏剧团一事，这令她兴奋不已——对如此热爱戏剧的人而言，这无疑是个理想的工作。眼前的她一身波西米亚兼妈妈风格的装束，一边用手指捻弄着发梢，一边用心讲述着排练的进程，这时她看起来更像是个临时演员，而非冷若冰霜的电影明星。

我们再度会面是今年在悉尼戏剧团的后台，那时她刚以扣人心弦的表演为观众精彩呈现了让·热内的作品《女仆》，戏的内容如原著一般阴暗。在台上出神入化地展现了该剧高度程式化、施虐受虐狂式的心理游戏，以及在卑顺服从和狂乱的高高在上之间来回转换的戏份后，布兰切特特意换上米色休闲裤和丝质衬衫款步而来，出席了演出结束后的媒体见面会。她流利地应答着所有提问，以及人们对演员如何能在戏里戏外处于截然不同状态的好奇发问。“表演结束后，你如何让自己的情绪恢复过来？”

“嗯，在这出戏结束时是没有希望了，真的。那不是个令人愉快的结局。非常不好——那就是热内……”她笑了，心情很轻松。

这次会面后，布兰切特作为联合艺术指导的五年任期结束了——艺术指导一职将由厄普顿独自担任。虽然布兰切特把过去的五年称作她人生中最富创造力的阶段，但她现在可以自由地接受来自银幕的召唤了。布兰切特与克里斯蒂安·贝尔合作出演、由泰伦斯·马力克执导的《圣杯骑士》将在明年上映，不久，她还将与凯瑟琳·基纳联袂出演大卫·马梅的惊悚片《黑鸟》，并与克里斯托弗·沃尔茨合演盗贼片《999》。不过，现在正值奥斯卡评奖季，人们都在期待1月份的提名结果出炉。提名里怎么可能没有她？《蓝色茉莉》是让演员们望眼欲穿却难得一见的以女性为中心的电影，也是继《丑闻笔记》(2006)之后最好的女性电影之一——在《丑闻笔记》中，布兰切特扮演的角色最终落入了朱迪·丹奇扮演的贪婪成性的同性恋者的控制之中。

作为对导演伍迪·艾伦的致意，布兰切特未曾读过剧本就接下了《蓝色茉莉》一片中的同名角色，在片中饰演了一个失去了一切——包括对现实的把控——的上层阶级妻子，那个形象牢牢地吸引了人们的目光。她的表演带有强烈的情感张力，与艾伦一贯忸怩作态、机智诙谐的纽约式对话体风格大相径庭。但是在我们最近的电话交谈中，我向她承认，当我看到茉莉离开镀金牢笼，面对着随之而来的种种可怕前景畏缩不前时，感到十分好笑。

“这就是幸灾乐祸，是不是？我们确实乐于看到别人垮掉。伍迪特别善于从荒诞和悲惨的情境中发掘喜剧元素，我想那是他的特色。”

因为一直喜欢看情绪夸张的角色在迅速败落时的狼狈相，对于《蓝色茉莉》在观众中产生的共鸣，我一点也不感到惊讶。“我们都把自己戏剧化了，”布兰切特发表着自己的见解，“特别是在面对社交媒体的时候。我们一直在扮演另一个自己，却没有意识到这样做是多么地自负和虚假，我们对现实的把握其实是多么地无力。看到那些自我认知和实际情形并不吻合的人，人们可能会感同身受。这是挺滑稽的……”

布兰切特优美的体态与片中的角色十分契合，为拒绝接受现实的茉莉增添了一分令人难以抗拒的优雅。身穿一件光彩夺目的羊毛衫，松松垮垮地套在一条像熔化的黄金般紧贴着她纤细身材的束腰裙外，她周身散发着富贵典雅的气息。这样的形象超越了对企业腐败、滥用药物、酗酒和破产的尖酸抨击，尽管她的物质世界和精神世界都已在崩塌。

正是这份闪亮的气质——连同她丰赡的才华——使得布兰切特天生就适合为阿玛尼品牌代言。在人们请他给出优雅的定义时，这位意大利的时尚大师将它描述为“由深蕴涵养和自信所构成的那种自然流露出来的轻盈触感”。因此，兼具才华、美貌与这种轻盈触感的布兰切特是为阿玛尼最新个性女性香水Sì上市代言的极佳人选。

布兰切特的事业或许也是全方位的。她在2001年的影片《航运新闻》中出人意料地饰演了一个一无是处、心肠狠毒的浪荡女子，至今仍让我记忆犹新。但是，真正彰显她超凡脱俗气质的是她在根据托尔金的作品《指环王》和《霍比特人》改编的电影中数度出演的高高在上的精灵女王盖拉德丽尔。在今年节礼日（编注：此处应指在澳大利亚上映的时间）上映的《霍比特人：史矛革荒漠》中，这位精灵女王将再度回归（系列的最后一部将在明年上映）。参演这样一部包含大量后期制作的电影究竟是什么感受呢？

“在绿幕前拍摄这么多镜头，的确更难找到真实感、难以入戏，不过这时就体现出导演的作用了。像史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格和彼得·杰克逊这样的导演就是连接你和动画世界以及你所扮演的角色的桥梁，你只要把那个世界完全当成真的就可以了。影片的布景很有魔幻色彩，也有相应的服装。其余的都是彼得（《霍比特人》的导演）的工作，他会给演员讲述故事的情境、人物的行为动机，以及接下来将会发生的事情。你会被他讲故事的天赋打动。还有什么比这更好的吗？”

我们谈到了当男孩的母亲以及想将他们培养成优秀男人的话题。“我认为这取决于你身为女性树立了怎样的形象。前几天，我的二儿子和我的一位化妆师好友聊了一整晚，谈论她新换的香水以及他为什么最喜欢肉桂的香味，”她说，“我很高兴地看到，他们似乎并没有泾渭分明地区分传统的女性话题和男性话题。他们能灵活处理这样的差异。”

布兰切特相信，家庭的熏陶让她的儿子们也成了热爱戏剧的孩子。“因为过去五年他们个性的形成时期都是在后台度过的。他们既看到了戏剧演出中轻松愉快的一面，也认识到了那是众人共同努力的结果，构成一台戏的不仅是演员的表演，还包括创作团队的创作技巧和票房工作人员的辛勤劳动。他们懂得了，仅有那些站在台前或是出现在30英尺的大屏幕上、令世人痴迷的所谓明星是不够的。”

那么，她认为谁值得她着迷？她又会为谁陷入遐思呢？“我的丈夫，”她马上答道，“权当娱乐。我是说，我对朱利安·阿桑奇很着迷，但不会想他想到入神。” iy1qPs6WEISKBbGI2JmWza0Y0H1wMXGYuRfd61+jzv+M7i2KtlIjOSaqvU4dbXdx