Cate Blanchett spoke about being cast as Martha Stewart for the first time on Tuesday, more than a month after Stewart leaked the news.
The two-time Oscar winner, 57, will play the homemaking mogul, 84, in the upcoming Stewart biopic, Good Thing. Blanchett told Vulture on Tuesday that she was excited about the role because she’s “a drooling fan” of Stewart’s.
“I find her life and her impact and her outlook absolutely compelling,” she added. “We’ve got a great script, and we’re working with that now. But it’s early stages.”
Blanchett also revealed that she has yet to connect with Stewart, whom she said she “hasn’t met yet.”
In April, Stewart let slip that she was “hearing rumors” of Blanchett’s involvement in the biopic during a red carpet interview. The report was confirmed by Variety later that day, with no comment from Blanchett.
Stewart, who many consider the first lifestyle influencer, grew her eponymous cooking and lifestyle brand throughout the 80s and 90s, turning it into a billion-dollar empire.
She told Variety when she revealed Blanchett’s involvement that having her life turned into a film was one of her “hopes.”
She did not have the same affection for her documentary, Martha. Though Stewart is interviewed extensively in the 2024 Netflix documentary, she had a fierce behind-the-scenes dispute with its director, R.J. Cutler, who she claimed “refused to change anything” after she gave him her critiques.
Stewart called the movie “lazy” and said it was “not the story that makes me, me,” as “It’s more about my stupid trial, which was so unfair,” in a conversation with the Daily Beast’s Chief Creative and Content Officer, Joanna Coles.
The documentary’s second half spotlighted Stewart’s dramatic 2004 trial, where she was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators about a stock sale. She served five months in federal prison, and her public image became forever complicated.
It is unclear whether Good Thing will touch on that period in Stewart’s life.
Blanchett, who earned two Oscars for her roles in The Aviator and Blue Jasmine, has portrayed several real-world figures on the silver screen, including Katherine Hepburn, Bob Dylan, and Queen Elizabeth I.
The biopic is being helmed by Zola director Janicza Bravo. No further details have been officially announced.
