LONDON?SOFT BEAMS OF sunset filtering through the windows of a meeting room at The Dorchester Hotel cast a luminous glow on Cate Blanchett?s lovely face.

But the total impact of Cate?s regal presence, matched by her elegant voice and accent, was humorously ?sabotaged? by a ?Robin Hood? poster in the background that showed a glowering Russell Crowe seemingly shooting an arrow at her.

The amusing juxtaposition unwittingly underscored the ?playfully combative? (her words) friendship they have forged. Cate plays Lady Marion to Russell?s take on the Sheriff of Nottingham in the movie directed by Ridley Scott, which features a cast of Merry Men that includes Russell?s real-life friends.

A quintessentially modern woman juggling motherhood and career, Cate is also the co-artistic director (with her husband Andrew Upton) of the Sydney Theatre Company, a job which requires the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actress to spend some time in an office.

Below are excerpts from our interview with Cate, who spoke with wit and humor about her equally famous fellow Aussie:

What?s the difference between you and Maid Marion?

I probably gave in to Russell about as much as Marion did (to Robin Hood).

Talk about giving in to Russell?

Or not giving in to Russell (laughing).

Tell us about working with him for the first time.

We?ve had a very wickedly funny e-mail correspondence which I really relish. He?s got a great sense of humor. As Australians, because we live in a land mass the size of North America but where there?s only 20 million of us, the performing industry is really quite small. So you get invested in one another?s successes, achievements and career paths.
I?ve followed Russell?s career with great interest. He is a force of nature (laughing). Like Ridley is a force of nature. Russell?s reputation precedes him. So you wonder how are we going to be together? But I found him incredibly generous and absolutely dedicated.

Russell told us about asking an audience at a gala unveiling your stamps if they thought that you and he should make a movie together.

Before we went up the podium, Russell said he was going to ask me to be in a film with him in front of everyone and take a vote. I said, ?I dare you.? And he did. That?s kind of how the relationship followed. We are playfully combative. That probably came across in the dynamics of the film. I?m very fond of him.

After you joked at that event that you can?t wait to be licked by thousands of Australians, Russell reportedly leaned over and told you that the stamps are self-adhesive now.

I?m an old-fashioned girl (laughing).

Russell also said he really liked how, after a hard day?s work, you sat back, put your feet up, had vodka and told stories.

I did have a few vodkas. He drove me to it. I had never touched a drop before working with him.

I guess he appreciated how you?re able to unwind?

As a drunk human being. It?s like a tennis match. You go out and do something together. I used to do that more before I had children. Now, I?m constantly looking at my watch and thinking, can I pick them up from school? Will I get home in time to put them to bed? So it was great that the kids were with us and were there on the set often. At the end of the day, they were in the trailer. So it became like a summer barbecue.

This is also your first time to work with Ridley Scott.

Ridley and I had once talked about making something else together. That didn?t come to pass. So when this came around, I grabbed the chance. He may say he?s not a perfectionist [but] Steven Spielberg also says that. Ridley and Steven are such masters of their craft that, if a shot is not working, they?re able to jettison a whole huge set up, move everything over and create an equally interesting shot. It?s so thrilling to be part of that.

But what I really loved about working with Ridley is that he?d phrase things in a way that you could never say no. He?d say, ?I want you to walk through behind that horse while another one is going to run at you. But you?re going to step backwards, go around, hit that guy with the broadsword, turn around, hit the other guy with the broadsword, go upstairs, open the building and then all these people are going to run out coughing because that building is going to be filled with smoke. That?s OK, isn?t it?? You go, ?Yes, OK, let?s go.?

Did playing a woman who worked hard on the field make you think about how tough it was back then?

I?m always doing that. I?m one of those annoying mothers who go to the supermarket and say to my boys, ?See this piece of meat in plastic? That was a cow once!? My boys get it every day. They just roll their eyes.

Did you relish the physicality of the role and how much mud was on your body?

It?s a matter of wiping the Weetabix cereal and cornflakes off and putting the dirt on. It?s sort of one dirt replaces another.

How do you manage to be a mother of three boys and an active actress at the same time?

The boys were always on the set with me. But now they need to be in school so that?s harder to do. I go to the office two days a week. I pick them up from school every day. That works really well.

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com.