Cate Blanchett and Warwick Thornton. “Why not change the gender of the character? Women do very similar things to men.

“Life is too short, let’s make a movie.” It was by saying these words during a phone conversation with director Warwick Davis that Cate Blanchett helped ignite the spark that ignited. The new guy. The film, which was presented in the Uncertain View category at the Cannes Film Festival this year, tells the story of an Aboriginal boy in the 1940s who is plucked from the bush to be placed in a monastery among a handful of orphans. A place ruled by a rebellious nun, played by an actress, where survival for children as well as adults is a matter of food, mutual aid, but also spiritual faith. An unstable balance that will be shaken by the arrival of a “new boy” endowed with magical powers. The Australian star produced the film through Dirty Films, a company she founded with husband Andrew Upton. A hat that today is an integral part of his work for the unique projects that allow him to develop.

In the video: Cate Blanchett and Warwick Thornton The new guy

Madame Figaro: Kate, what motivated you to work on this film?
Cate Blanchett: For me, the script is only one stage in the making of the film. I am interested in the dialogue with the director. During the pandemic, Warwick and I had long conversations on the phone, often unrelated to movies, which I loved. Then he told me he had this project he hadn’t worked on in a while that he thought he’d like me to read… I told him to send it to me right away. And I knew I would say yes, I was so impressed with his work.

Warwick, how is this “new guy” like you?
Warwick Thornton.I never set foot in a church until I was 11 when I was sent to boarding school. I had seen images of the crucifixion before, but seeing that physical image of Jesus there, nailed to the cross, terrified me. It has always stuck with me. That’s what happened to me, and that’s what happens when you take a child out of the bush and put it in a monastery.

In the video, Cate Blanchett at the Women In Motion speech at the 76th Cannes Film Festival

Kate, your character was originally male, a monk. Why did you decide to make her a nun together, and how did that affect the film?
WT-I think I know men a little better than women, and writing female characters scares me. Somehow, I’m not feeling it. I have a very good relationship with my mother, and I grew up in the Amazon world, where power and food were in the hands of women, not men. These were not in my life. But I found it easier to write a male character.
CBThat said, we haven’t changed any of the character’s actions. I’ve had these conversations before with directors who would tell me about a project; “Interesting story, but I’ve seen it before.” When I told them that they wouldn’t have that impression if we changed the character’s gender, they countered that it would bring significant changes to the film… But no. Why is it impossible to change a character’s gender? Women often do very similar things to men. Yes for The new guy, we had to work on some points with the other actors, it brought out the fact that nuns don’t celebrate mass, unlike monks… Actually, it raised a lot of interesting questions. And since Warwick prefers to ask questions rather than answer them, that was good.