Cate Blanchett Plays More Roles In 'Manifesto' Than You Have Fingers

Unless you have 13 fingers.

Question: What do a TV anchor, a factory worker, a homeless person, a scientist and a punk all have in common?

Answer: They’re all Cate Blanchett.

Or more accurately, Blanchett portrays all of them (and then some) in “Manifesto,” a film set to debut at Sundance next week in which Blanchett morphs into a total of 13 different characters.

Organizers released a two-minute trailer for the film Thursday:

Fittingly, “Manifesto” is itself another iteration of a more basic idea: The film began as a 2015 video installation at New York’s Park Avenue Armory.

“Nothing is original, OK?” Blanchett says in one scene, this time as a teacher addressing a class full of young kids. “So you can steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration and fuels your imagination, OK?”

The kids dutifully reply, “OK!”

True to the film’s title, Blanchett’s multiple personas are meant to convey “some of the most influential and emotional artist manifestos in history,” a blurb on the Sundance website explains. “Manifesto is entertaining while also asking us to question if these passionate statements still hold true and inspire us today.”

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Cate Blanchett

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