Cate Blanchett Clarifies That She Hasn't Had "Sexual Relations" With Women

She insists she was misquoted

Cate Blanchett is clearing up some misunderstandings.

Last week she told Variety that she has had relationships with women "many times," but now the actress wants to clarify her statements. When she said she had been involved with other women, she didn't mean sexually. "Have I had sexual relations with women? The answer is no," the Carol star told reporters in Cannes on Sunday.

She added that the part of the interview where she had stated she had had no "sexual relations with women" had been edited out of the article. Writer Ramin Setoodeh stood by his article, tweeting, "When I asked Cate Blanchett if she'd had lesbian relationships in real life, she said: 'Many times.' She was accurately quoted."

Regardless, she told reporters in France that when it comes to answering questions involving sexuality, "In 2015, the answer shouldn't matter."

The Australian actress, who has four children with her husband of 18 years, Andrew Upton, also said that she didn't want to back her character, Carol, into a corner with labels and rules. "I never thought about it," Blanchett said when asked if she had a particular vision for Carol. "I don't think Carol thought about it."

Carol follows the main character of the same name who falls in love with a younger department store clerk played by Rooney Mara. "Her sexuality isn't politicized," she also told Variety. "I think there are a lot of people that exist like that who don't feel the need to shout things from the rafters."

The film has already garnered rave reviews and is an early contender to take the Cannes Film Festival's most important award, but it's not the accolades she's after; she wants to prove that women of all ages can play meaty roles.

"It's not serving the audience," she said in the interview with regard to the surplus of male-dominated movies. "People want to see good films. We should have equal access to the multiplexes."

She insists that audiences want to see films with women taking the lead, despite what some may think.

"Midrange films with women at the center are tricky to finance," Blanchett, who was most recently seen in Cinderella, added. "There are a lot of people laboring under the misapprehension that people don't want to see them, which isn't true."

"I want it not to be discussed anymore, but it needs to be discussed."