Sanity

Why doesn’t the superb actress Cate Blanchett tell us what she means?

“As you get older, acting just gets more and more humiliating.” said she. “When I was younger, I would wonder why the older actors I admired kept talking about quitting. Now I realize it’s because they want to maintain a connection to the last shreds of their sanity.”

And: “As I get older, I ask myself if I still want to submit myself to the shamanistic end of this profession and go completely into madness.”

Shamanistic? An influential entry into the world of evil spirits? I don’t get it.

I had a 35-year profession as a middle-class actor in theater, radio, film, and television; won a couple of awards in New York, and quit only because roles were no longer available to me. No “older actor” ever described to me a desire to quit in order to maintain their sanity.

But I’m willing to be convinced of something I don’t understand.

Just please use some simple straightforward language. Diss me, Cate.