EW spoke with Blanchett about Bernadettes odyssey of self-discovery.
And I readthe booklike everybody and loved it, years and years ago.
Hoping it was going to be made.
Credit: Wilson Webb/Annapurna Pictures
Sometimes things take time, the right time.
And this is the right time.
I was a fan of the book.
Its hilarious in a relentless kind of way.
I love Marias writing.
In a way its a Richard Linklater movie of a Maria Semple novel.
Its quite a curious entity!
I think it still retains that.
Have you read the novel?
Yes, I have.It isrelentless, right?
And because its an epistolary novel, its a wonderful thing, but a bugger to adapt.
Its all written from a very particular perspective.
In a movie, you get to get inside that.
Its not always funny.
And [another] challenge of adapting it for the screen is [that] the central character disappears.
Its a tricky thing, to balance the disappearance but then actually seeing Bernadettes journey.
How did you and Richard Linklater conceive the character together?Well, Rick likes to talk.
That was the great thing: just sitting, chewing the fat with him.
Thats the way he works.
Otherwise you just go and read the book.
It was working to his rhythms.
But it was a lot of talking.
You have these long monologues where Bernadette is giving notes to her virtual assistant.
The tone is very tricky there.Yeah, it is.
Like we all do when we talk to people on the internet, were actually just talking to ourselves.
Its a sense of isolation.
And then of course she goes to Antarctica.
Its moving to watch her really find herself again there.
Im so obsessed with the Antarctic.
If Im honest, I thought, Oh, God, I finally get to go!
I went, Oh, sh.
I was very disappointed.
But then of course, the quality of the light and the experience of being there.
We went to Greenland and got caught in, I dont know, a Category 20,000 hurricane?
[Laughs] We were living the dream!
That was an extraordinary part of the shoot.
And the ship reeked of vomit.
Thats a very intimate experience to have with your fellow castmates!
The house itself was a character too.
The production design was so fantastic.
Were all pretending to be one thing when were actually something else.
Were always running from some part of our past that we think weve dealt with.
Shes holding onto so much by her fingernails.
I really related to that stuff, as a mother.
Whered You Go, Bernadetteis such a beloved summer book now.
Whats your beach read recommendation?Im from Australia, where we have no seasons.
Ive been delving into her poetry.
