Cate Blanchett: Straight Actors Can Play LGBTQ Roles

When Cate Blanchett starred in "Carol," Todd Haines seminal LGBTQ film three years ago, she said that she had never been asked more about her own sexuality, the actress told the Hollywood Reporter from Rome this weekend where she was attending the city's film festival.

In a discussion with the festival's artistic director Antonio Monda about her career, Blanchett implied that the point of the questions was that if she didn't have a lesbian experience, she couldn't play the role – a position she vehemently disagrees with.

"For Blanchett, she believes this defies the whole point of acting. 'It also speaks to something that I'm quite passionate about in storytelling generally, but in film specifically, is that film can be quite a literal medium,' she said.

" 'And I will fight to the death for the right to suspend disbelief and play roles beyond my experience. I think reality television and all that that entails had an extraordinary impact, a profound impact on the way we view the creation of character,' she continued.

"'I think it provides a lot of opportunity, but the downside of it is that we now, particularly in America, I think, we expect and only expect people to make a profound connection to a character when it's close to their experience," she said.

"Part of being an actor to me, it's an anthropological exercise. So you get to examine a timeframe, a set of experiences, an historical event that you didn't know anything about," the actress continued. "But also I'm about to play a character whose political persuasions are entirely different to my own, but part of the pleasure is trying to work out what makes her tick."

Both Blanchett and her co-star Roony Mara were nominated for Oscars for "Carol," though neither one. The Advocate reported that pointed out 52 straight people who received Oscar nominations for playing gay characters.