Cate Blanchett, the woman that you are. Borderlands notwithstanding (and if we’re being fair, ignoring Where’d You Go, Bernadette as well), she is unequivocally one of the greatest performers of her generation. From The Talented Mr. Ripley to The Gift, to, of course, The Lord of the Rings, Blanchett has flirted with genre filmmaking plenty of times before.
She’s never quite gone and fully dipped into the horror space (though I’d love to see it), but at least 2022’s Tár featured background ghosts and (unauthorized) The Blair Witch Project audio to create a discordant, haunting experience. While Blanchett may not feature in many (any) straight horror projects, she is at least a fan. Especially when it comes to Peter Jackson’s cult classic Braindead.
About Dead Alive, aka Braindead
Per Prime Video: Wellington, New Zealand. Lionel Cosgrove, an oppressed bachelor still living with his despotic mother Vera, has finally found his soulmate: Paquita, a compassionate grocery store clerk. But fate plays cruel tricks on mortals. After a visit to the local zoo, a vicious Sumatran Rat-Monkey bites Vera, and Lionel’s already messed-up world falls apart.
Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombie comedy film was first released in the United States as Dead Alive. While Braindead was Jackson’s most expensive movie made at that time, it was a box office bomb. Even in 1992, rat-monkey zombies weren’t the audience pull you might think they were. In the years since, Dead Alive has been reappraised, and now, it’s regarded as one of the best (and goriest) horror movies of the 1990s. For years, fans have been hoping for Jackson to abscond from Middle Earth and return to his roots.
Cate Blanchett has taste
Last week, Cate Blanchett spoke with host Andy Cohen on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Blanchett. The conversation shifted toward Blanchett’s sterling filmography, and Cohen pressed Blanchett to recall the film for which she had been paid the most. There’s a cheeky back-and-forth as both nudge the other to share their guesses first, and Cohen concedes, reasonably suggesting it was Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett responded. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.” Blanchett recalls getting free sandwiches on set (always a plus), and her remarks are an important reminder of the omnipresent gap between what men and women in Hollywood are paid. Curiously, however, Blanchett shares the real reason she starred in those movies. “I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of Braindead? Like Cate Blanchett, would that be enough for you to sign onto a Peter Jackson project? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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