NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Australian actress Cate Blanchett said casting several actors to play various aspects of Bob Dylan on film reflects the singer’s ability to redefine himself.
Blanchett, Heath Ledger and Christian Bale portray different incarnations of Dylan in "I’m Not There," screening at the Venice film festival.
"It was an amazing project," Blanchett told reporters in New York recently. "We did it in sections and Heath plays Dylan … as an actor figure and I play him as a rock star figure and Christian Bale plays him as a TV evangelist. It’s all these different incarnations of Dylan, none of whom are called ‘Bob Dylan.’"
Blanchett said it didn’t seem strange to play a man.
“If you cast a guy to play the period where (Dylan) is most iconic ... then it would have been a much more 'bio-picy' type feel. But I’m a woman, so you are automatically distanced from who we perceive Dylan to be. He’s made his life’s work to be constantly shape-shifting and, in a way, I think that is a large part of his genius and how he has maintained his independence and freedom."
