Cate Blanchett dishes on ‘delightful part of aging’

The 55-year-old Blanchett says this stage of her life is about making quick, important calls. She goes with her gut, throwing caution (and sometimes scripts) to the wind.

Take the time, a few years back, when award-winning writer-director Alfonso Cuarón sent Blanchett the script for a new psychological thriller called “Disclaimer.”

“I read it and I threw it across the room! Whenever you throw anything across the room, you realize that you’re confronted and challenged by it,” she says with a laugh.

The Australia native and two-time Oscar winner says that age brings the wisdom not to wait.

“Sometimes in life you’ve already made the decision the minute something is presented to you. You know you will embark on whatever that situation is. You just know,” Blanchett observes. “That wisdom is a delightful part of aging.”

She knew that she wanted to star in “Disclaimer,” a new seven-part series on Apple TV+ that also stars Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville and Sacha Baron Cohen.

In the screen adaptation of Renee Knight’s novel, Blanchett portrays Catherine Ravenscroft, an acclaimed journalist who has a reputation for writing about the misdeeds of others.

When she receives a thin novel from an unknown author called “The Perfect Stranger,” she begins to read and later is horrified to realize she is the main character in a story that exposes a dark secret that she has hidden for over 20 years.

“Her life begins to unravel,” Blanchett says. “She finds out that the past always finds a way to come back and haunt you.”

Blanchett — who lives in Sydney and Sussex with her husband, playwright and screenwriter Andrew Upton, and their four children — shares her good life tips:

Just say yes

Cuarón insists Blanchett was his first and only choice for “Disclaimer’s” lead role. “I was terrified that she would say no,” says Cuarón, a two-time best director Oscar winner for “Gravity” and “Roma.” “She was so much in my mind from the start.”

Blanchett says she was all-in from the start — even though this series was born years ago. “It was pre-pandemic, and I was told by my agent that Alfonso wanted to call me about something. He was so cryptic. He said, ‘I’ve written a script.’ It was a very loose outline of the first three episodes. He said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you until you’ve read it,’ ” she recalls. “I loved it. He could have said, ‘You are playing a tree or a lamppost.’ I would be there.”

Share a few secrets

The actress says the series is a cautionary tale about keeping secrets. “I had the chance to play a woman who has things that she has buried, traumatic things,” Blanchett shares. “I did have to think about what happens to repressed memories and things that we have avoided rather than dealt with. And I found it fascinating and quite painful to get into that mindset.”

Don’t judge

“We live in a world where we decide very quickly what is the truth of a person. We’re very quick to make judgments,” she says. “This story in ‘Disclaimer’ invites us to make quick judgments, but maybe suspend those judgments right through to the end.”

Support system

“None of us are self made. Our journeys are interlinked. We’ve always been made and unmade by each other,” Blanchett says. “We stand on the shoulders of the women before us, and we have a responsibility to work on our own shoulders so they’re strong for the next generation.”

Turn it off

Blanchett, who has a slew of upcoming projects, says she has found the perfect way to de-stress from a busy day. “Sit quietly and turn your phone off for 20 minutes,” she says. “Your face will relax because you’re not talking. Your mind will relax because you’re not scrolling. Or you could give up social media entirely and take 10 years off you!”

Invest in you

Blanchett says juggling home life and Hollywood isn’t easy. “I will grab a few minutes for myself in the morning and the evening,” she says. “Life is chaos. You need to take those few minutes for you … and enjoy them. … There is so much pressure on women, so I think anything you do to make yourself feel better is a win. Look after your skin, get in a walk, go for a swim, take a quick nap, watch a 250-Kleenex movie … anything that makes you happy, invest in it and invest in you.”

Turn fear into fuel

“I don’t know what to expect when I step onto a new set,” Blanchett says. “But I choose to turn that fear into excitement. You can do that with many things in life. It shifts your perspective.”

How to let go

“As each passing day goes by as one gets older, you can feel like you’re less in control,” Blanchett says. “As women, we often feel like we need to be in control of things. What I know now is the only way forward is to let go of control. There is a saying, ‘You hold on tightly and let go lightly.’ You let go lightly knowing the generations behind you are going to pick it up.”

Celebrate your journey

“My journey has been messy and eclectic,” she says, “But I’m still here. Standing here. Boldly.”