The Awardist: Cate Blanchett talks Mrs. America and rewatching The Sopranos in quarantine

As the coronavirus pandemic continues around the world, many people isolating at home are returning to favorite shows and movies looking for comfort and even newfound understanding in a strange time. On the latest episode of EW's The Awardist podcast, Cate Blanchett revealed that she's been using this time to rewatch The Sopranos with her family.

"I had watched The Sopranos and thought I had totally imbibed it. But I've gone back again with my kids and we're watching it as a family," Blanchett said. "They've got school commitments and I've got publicity commitments and also going into the garden, we've got four pigs, there's a lot to be getting on with, but we cannot progress with the next episode of The Sopranos unless we're all together. Not only is it a seminal piece of television, but the performances, the storytelling adventures, watching it again I feel like i'm only beginning to understand it."

Blanchett has four children, only two fewer than conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, whom she recently portrayed on the FX/Hulu series Mrs. America. Asked about similarities she saw with Schlafly as a fellow working mom, Blanchett noted that their differences were even more important.

"She's a very contradictory and polarizing figure. You're right, I'm a mother of four and I've been married for a long time. Whenever you play a character, you do look for points of intersection. But I'm also interested in those points of divergence," Blanchett said. "The difference between art and politics is that in art, you don't sit in judgment. The difference between Gorky and [Anton] Chekhov is that very space. Politics is a place of judgment and ideology, and art is a place where you ask questions, you sit in the gray areas and the nuance. I'm very proud of being part of a series that takes a very deep dive into the different perspectives that took place in the '70s."

Listen to the full conversation below, along with thoughts from EW's Kristen Baldwin and Sarah Rodman about potential Emmy nominations.

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