Cate Blanchett spent a long day doing the junket for Cinderella and she finally had enough with the stupid questions. The Project‘s Jonathan Hyla came into the room and tried to be funny with the Oscar winner and she wasn’t having it.
He started off the interview by telling her, even though he has been doing this for a long time, he’s never had the pleasure of interviewing her until now. She jokingly replied, “That’s because I keep saying no. I cannot talk to him. Can you please not let that man in the room.” He thought he was being smart and told her that he was going to bring a six-pack of beer into the room to break the ice. She let him know that she doesn’t drink beer and prefers a potato Vodka. She then shared with him, “If you want the sex to be good, that’s the Vodka. The beer’s just not going to cut it.”
She realized at this point, their interview had gone too far for the family movie she’s promoting and tried to bring it back to Cinderella. The interview went into another horrible place before she got things into order and that led to another awkward moment.
She had enough with his failed humor and got serious about the movie again. It was then when he tried to ask her a serious question and he wanted to know how she controlled the cat on a leash. At that point, she had enough. She scolded him by saying, “That’s your question? That’s your f*cking question?” When he tried to defend himself, she sarcastically told him, “Nice to meet you,” as she went to shake his hand. He went for a high five and they missed each other. He got up and walked out and their chat was over, but not forgotten.
As someone who tries to be witty during junket interviews, I can feel his pain. But unlike him, I do try to ask serious questions about the project too. As a reporter, if you see it is going badly, you need to try to salvage the interview. Not only for the package but also for future for opportunities. You would be surprised by how quickly you can find yourself getting blocked from future interviews, just by having a bad one like this one. Believe me, I’ve seen reporters get turned down for A-List interviews after one bad one-on-one with another one. Although Blanchett seemed to have fun with Hyla, so he should be OK.
I think the big take away from this interview, is you truly get to see what the actors go through during these junkets. This isn’t even that bad. Imagine what it is like when the reporter has to ask certain questions for other pieces. I once saw an actress almost in tears because the agenda question was too hard for her to answer and the reporter wouldn’t let up.
