Cate Blanchett is without a doubt one of the greatest actresses of the modern era, a truly chameleonic presence that’s capable of disappearing into almost any role. It can’t be easy to win acclaim for playing parts as diverse as Katharine Hepburn, Galadriel, Bob Dylan and Marvel Cinematic Universe villain Hela, but she makes it look easy.
Unsurprisingly, the two-time Academy Award winner is coming in for high praise thanks to another winning turn in Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, the dark and dingy psychological thriller that opens in theaters everywhere today, in case you hadn’t noticed given the other high-profile big screen debutant.
In an interview with The Playlist, the typically verbose del Toro gave an interesting explanation when discussing how Blanchett and co-star Bradley Cooper approached their roles, comparing them to recent MonsterVerse opponents Godzilla and King Kong.
“And I approached her, and I said to Bradley, ‘Look, King Kong, I need to get you your Godzilla.’ And I knew that I needed somebody of that stature to, what has been up until then, a guy that has run on unopposed for half the movie. And you need to feel when the vineyard comes in. And the other thing is, very important here, is the ramp of the movie needs to be slow, but continuous. And you need to feel ‘O.K. I get the world, I get the act. I get the guy. Now what?’ And the answer to ‘Now what?’ is Lilith, it’s Cate.”
Is it time to petition for a remake of Godzilla vs. Kong already, except this time Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper play the titular kaiju? Probably, but we can dream. Nightmare Alley has been pegged as a potential awards season contender, but box office success may be hard to come by when the literary adaptation is going up against the Spider-Man: No Way Home juggernaut, although a little counter-programming never hurt anybody in the long run.