'Bandit' shows busy Blanchett's versatility

Oscar-nominated actor Cate Blanchett is on the phone, and we're talking hair — specifically, the fiery-red tresses she sports in the comedy "Bandits," now in theaters.

"It's pretty incredible, that red," Blanchett said from London last week. "It was autumn when we were filming in Oregon, and I think (the shade) came from the incredible colors of the landscape. And, I suppose, that cliché of the volatile redhead. Also, I was bald — I'd shaved my head for 'Heaven.' "

So it's a wig, but who would know? With a skilled chameleon like Blanchett, anything's believable. From the naïve willfulness of the young Elizabeth I in "Elizabeth," to the creamy-voiced heiress in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," to the frightened Southern psychic of "The Gift," Australian-born Blanchett has constantly transformed herself on screen. Since first coming to world cinemagoers' attention a few years ago with "Oscar and Lucinda" and "Elizabeth," she's accumulated an impressive, varied list of credits — and become one of the busiest actors around.

'Crazy' year at work

"I don't know how we managed (the past year) — it was crazy," said Blanchett, who's in five movies in 2001: "The Gift" and "The Man Who Cried," both released earlier this year, and "Bandits," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Shipping News." She's also wrapped "Charlotte Gray" for "Oscar and Lucinda" director Gillian Armstrong, and director Tom Tykwer's "Heaven," both due out in early 2002.

Chemistry counts

"Bandits" is a goofball caper/ romantic comedy about two bank robbers (Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Willis) and a bored housewife who becomes their hostage. "I read (the screenplay) quite a while ago," said Blanchett. "(It) was one of those laugh-out-loud scripts, but it's always who you're playing opposite. If that energy doesn't spark, they don't have a film."

When Thornton (who acted previously with Blanchett in "Pushing Tin"), Willis and director Barry Levinson signed on, Blanchett happily joined in as live-wire Kate Wheeler. "It was really important that she was a force of nature. The guys are going along smoothly until they meet her. She's the catalyst that leads them into disaster, not willingly, but confuses them both."

A memorable scene

Her entrance into the movie is a gem: As Kate cooks dinner for her neglectful husband, she flings herself about in a wild dance to "Holding Out for a Hero." "It just said in the script, 'Kate dances her cares away,' so I spoke to Barry about music, and I had a rather embarrassingly familiar trip down memory lane with shocking '80s music, ending up with Bonnie Tyler."

Although she's made several comedies, Blanchett is better known for her dramatic roles — which made "Bandits" a refreshing change. "What I love about the way Barry works is that the laughs in his films are often the surprising moments," she said. "He's got a particular loopy sense of humor that tickles me."

Blanchett next appears in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy as the Elf Queen Galadriel ("The ears are incredible!"). The role is crucial but small: Her scenes for all three films were shot in just three or four weeks. "Galadriel's a very major touchstone for Frodo, but not actually in the book very much," explained Blanchett. The first installment of the trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring," opens Dec. 19.

New project pending

But her schedule is winding down now, as she and her husband, writer Andrew Upton, prepare for the arrival of their first child late this year. She plans some time off, but has another project on the horizon: a film about the Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, who was killed in 1996 by members of the Dublin drug underworld about which she had written.

And the classically trained Blanchett also hopes to do more stage work: "Like film, it depends on the timing and who is involved. I'm not one of these people who says, 'I've got to play Nora in 'A Doll's House' and I've got to do it tomorrow.' (But) I love the power of theater."

Moira Macdonald can be reached at 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.