"The way the story
turns out, the main
character ultimately
finds her way out of
the darkness, and
attains a degree of
redemption for herself
and her family. That
idea appealed to me
very much."

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chics during the film's shooting in
Savannah, Ga.
"I don't know if I believe in the super-
natural. But after meeting these remark-
able women, I do believe in the power
of enormous empathy. As much as psy-
chics, they were like social workers,"
Blanchett explained in her Australian
accent, which is a far cry from the per-
fectly phrased rural Southern dialect she
developed to play Annie.
"These women said that their repeat
clients often unburden themselves of
the most personal information, simply
because they have no one else to talk
to," she said. "They also said that they
have all found themselves in some
really dangerous situations, because of
what they heard and what they saw."
Of her character, Blanchett said,
"Annie is someone who is very quiet
about her gift, and doesn't impose it
on anyone. It's not like The Sixth
Sense, at all. It's a very quiet, poignant,
eerie human drama about real people
who have incredible secrets and
incredible fears, and what happens
when those fears rise to the surface."
Blanchett also felt that being in
Georgia, with its ancient trees, hang-
ing strands of Spanish moss and
murky, ominous swamp lands, lent a
special atmosphere to the production.
"There's something about the South
that feels lost and timeless," she
observed. "It's almost like the town in
our story is floating in time. There are
all these bizarre, unresolved, untalked-
about emotions and vendettas that are
aoinc, b on between the characters. For
me, the atmosphere is like some
strange dream, and Annie is in a
nightmare state."
One of the aspects of Annie that
appealed so much to Blanchett was,
ironically, her weakness, brought
about by the overwhelming guilt she
feels over the death of her husband —
an event she did not see coming and,
thus, was unable to stop.
"She's so human. She's not an action

hero. She's not Elizabeth (a reference
to her highly acclaimed performance
as England's Virgin. Queen), who
always says the right thing at the right
time, and always finds courage when
she needs it. Annie's is a much quieter
human journey.
"She often misses the key moment,
and doesn't run when she should run.
It's as if there's so much in her own life
that she hasn't dealt with, she embroils
herself in other people's problems, not
taking responsibility for herself and
her family. It's as if she's immobilized
by the guilt she still feels over the
death of her husband."
The toughest aspect of the role,
aside from the punishing physical vio-
lence she had to go through with
Keanu Reeves (as Donnie Barksdale, a
vicious wife-beater, whose character is
convinced Annie is trying to destroy
his marriage), was making Annie's
"gift" seem a natural aspect of her
being.
"We wanted her psychic abilities to
simply be a given in her life, like a
person who is a diabetic," Blanchett
said. "These visions are totally normal
to her. We wanted her transitions
between the material world and the
psychic realm to appear seamless."
Blanchett, as glamorous as a fashion
queen, joked about the completely
uncrlamorous nature of her character

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in The Gift.

I've always had a flair for dressing,
ever since I was a girl," she said. "Well,
Annie does all her shopping at Wal-
Mart. The costume designer actually
said she thought I was the bravest
actress she'd ever seen, because I
allowed myself to be filmed wearing
these awful elastic pants. Believe me,
those things don't make any woman
look good." ❑

The Gift, rated R, opens in area
theaters today.

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1/19
2001

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