As a chilly conductor in Tár, the acclaimed star may have delivered her greatest performance yet

How did director Todd Field first come to you with the film?

We’d met some time ago. He was working with Joan Didion on something [which Blanchett was going to star in] and then that didn’t come to pass. He sent me the script before we began talking about it. As soon as I knew he was sending me a script, I knew instinctually that I was going to do it.

What stood out for you in the script?

It seems like such an intellectual assault, but it bypassed my intellect and I had a kinetic, physical reaction to it. Also, it was the ambiguities that sat inside her…