Cate Blanchett wants ‘diversity of same-sex couples in film’

Cate Blanchett has called for more diversity in the portrayal of same-sex relationships on the big screen.

The Oscar winner will soon be seen in Carol, an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price Of Salt, in which she’ll play a character who has a romance with another, younger woman, played by Rooney Mara.

Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “The problem is that when you represent a character in a same-sex relationship, it’s like you have to represent them all.

“You become a spokesperson, which really isn’t the point.”

She added: “When the time comes that we have a diversity of same-sex couples in film, then the problem is solved, I don’t have to stand for everyone.”

She was recently reported as saying she had had sexual relationships with women but now insists she was misquoted.

She explained: “I read a lot of girl-on-girl books from the period. I think there are a lot of people that exist like [Carol] who don’t feel the need to shout things from the rafters.”

Carol, which also stars Sarah Paulson, is out in the US on November 20 and the UK on November 27.