BABIESCate Blanchett Likes Playing Evil
May 19 2008, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
Cate Blanchett wanted to be Indiana Jones when she was younger. Sadly, that never came true for her, but she did get a great consolation prize.
The Oscar winner co-stars in the latest installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, as Irina Spalko, a Russian villain with a haircut so hideous it could rival Javier Bardem’s in No Country for Old Men.
"I've got the ugliest hairstyle I've ever seen,” Cate tells Parade.com. “If that doesn't send signals that she's the villain then there's no point. Once I got into it, I actually found it quite liberating playing a really bad girl because you can sort of do anything you want."
Not that the actress was ever going to decline a role – whatever it was – in an Indy flick in the first place.
"I've always wanted to do something with lots of action in it. So when Steven Spielberg said, 'Come be a part of Indiana Jones', I could hardly say ‘no,’” Cate says. “I grew up with the Indy films; they're part of cinematic landscape."
The 39-year-old holds her own against Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf in the heart-pounding, action-packed scenes (she wields a “pretty mean sword” against Shia), giving her a good workout on set. In real life, Cate's fitness routine is looking after her sons with husband Andrew Upton, Dashiell, 6, Roman, 4, and Ignatius.
"Chasing the kids is my fitness routine," she says. "I don’t really exercise that much although I wish I did. The best weight loss program I ever had was playing playing Elizabeth the Queen. The costumes were very heavy, the hours were long and you’re under a lot of pressure. I dropped more than a few pounds both times I played her."
