Mischa Barton: Cate Blanchett for W Magazine

J'ADORE Galadriel.

Yves Saint Laurent Edition Soir’s silk satin bustier, Chopard’s 18k rose gold and brown diamond earrings,
LaCrasia gloves, Hermès belt

W Magazine June 2010
Photographed by Craig McDean
Styled by Lori Goldstein
Hair by Odile Gilbert/Exposure NY
Makeup by Stéphane Marais/L’Atelier NYC

Our girl crush on Cate Blanchett is reaching critical mass, kittens. Aside from never handing in a performance that wasn't brilliant, aside from her fabulous risk-taking personal style, aside from her beauty, she's so damn smart and grounded. She's too much woman for us, darlings.

On why more people don't go to the theater:
I think a lot of people feel, perhaps because of the experience they had at school, that going to the theater is going to be some exam, that there's a right response. It's the same way some people feel about the visual arts who haven't been exposed to it; they feel that perhaps it won't speak to them or they won't know the language. And I think it's just about saying, your response is your response.

On encouraging a love of theater in her children:
You've just got to present it to them and they take what they take. It's important to me that it doesn't feel like a family business to them. So that they have a life that's not continually centered around what we do.

On letting her children enjoy more lowbrow pursuits:
My kids don't watch any TV, but they watch videos and films. I'm sure they watch it at friends' houses. And my eldest got a Wii for his birthday last year. We had held off on it for a while. Then my husband said, let him play it--a few weeks later he'll get bored. And he did. He played it manically for a month but that was it in the end.

On her favorite beauty aid:
Dry shampoo. It has changed my life.

On whether she gets irritated with actors who show up to sets less prepared than she typically is:
Not at all. Everyone works differently and if everyone was working the same way it would be utterly dull. The thing I can't bear is when someone doesn't care or they're just lazy and they don't show up, or they're not there for when the camera turns onto you. That really irritates me.

On reading reviews of her own work:
I actually find it easier to read the negative reviews. What do you do when people praise you? It's a big relief, and you sort of feel like you've gotten away with something. But I'm reticent to buy into that when it happens. My husband's always saying, "You should enjoy it!" And I should. But I suppose it's the fear of becoming complacent. And it's a fear of becoming a praise-aholic. You know, you get a taste of it and that's all you want to live on.

On her attitude towards fashion:
I love it. I don't spend my life worshipping it, but I love beautiful things. I don't really think about "my aesthetic." It's eclectic I guess. I'm interested in juxtaposing the unexpected.

On why she signed on to star in Robin Hood:
I think in the end it was the combination of Ridley [Scott] and Russell [Crowe]. The two Rs! It's one of those stories upon which each generation stamps its own imprint and those two guys have such a unique bond and have produced such firepower films together. I thought the friction between them and the sort of cheeky lyricism that's always associated with Robin Hood would be really interesting.

And of course, the interview comes with plenty of gorgeous shots of Cate, looking gorgeous. The only actress who can work it for a fashion editorial better than her is Tilda Swinton and even then, it's a close competition. Like Tilda, she understands that modeling is itself a form of acting.