On a remote monastery in the 1940s, so the backdrop is the second world war. And the monastery is being presided over by a nun, who i play, whos officiating mass, the priest is dead. And one night, unceremoniously, a young indigenous boy is dumped on the doorstep of the monastery to be cared for as part of the reprehensible Government Policy of assimilation of indigenous children, in order to separate indigenous children from their culture. And this powerful spirituality of this young boy destabilises the surety of the catholic faith there, and these strange miracles start to happen. Which we see so vividly in the performance by this little boy, by aswan reid, just nine years old, and you cant take your eyes off him when hes on screen. Hes absolutely magnetic. Erm, i mean, we were so lucky to find him. I remember warwick. Warwick thornton and i started to have these conversations over the pandemic, as a lot of people did, you know, and he was talking about this story, and he said, but of course we dont have a film unless we find the new boy. And we found this young boy, who was a chiricahua boy from the border of the Northern Territory and western australia, whod not only never been off country, hed never been on a film set, but yet he is. He was the most. He learned more in two days about the Film Industry than id learnt in almost 30 years. Hes extraordinary. And hes just won an award. He has. He won. Basically the Australian Academy awards, he won best actor, and was so well deserved. I mean, often, when an award like thats given to a child, you sort of think, ooh, you know, is that a right thing to do . Sentimentality or. Yes, but he. The demands that were placed on him as an actor, for any actor, no matter what their age and experience, but yet a young boy who had just turned 11, who had never been on a film set, and he had to get up at dawn. But what was so moving was the other boys, because, of course, theres a whole. Its like an orphanage, so the boys that rallied around him and who would also get up with him at dawn to be there for him and make him a cup of tea if he had to be there at sunset. But his. The rigour and the discipline, and the focus that he had, as well as this incredible spirit that warwick brought to life and helped him enhance on screen. This is warwick thornton, the director, and you said this was partially based on his own experience . Yes, i knew warwicks work, and people may have seen sweet country, or his first feature, samson and delilah, which won the camera dor at cannes. And of course, for this film, he won the golden frog at camerimage, which is the biggest Cinematography Prize in the world. But, you know, his work is often quite savage and brutal, but this is a. Its a very personal story about his own experience, which i didnt know. He was taken off country, sent away by his mother to be disciplined and educated by Benedictine Nuns and monks. And i didnt realise that. So i had been obsessed myself with the church, the catholic church, not being a catholic at all, but my father died young and i was hoping, you know, in some way, that i would find some sense of comfort through the rituals of churchgoing. And so we found this connection. And i. And so hes wrote from his own experience about going on 20 years ago now. And i think he put that. It was so personal, he put it in his sock drawer, his proverbial sock drawer, and left it there. And then we began talking over the pandemic and realising that we had this sort of crossover interest. He said, you know, sis, would you be interested in reading this story . And i said, absolutely. But when he gave it to me and my husband, andrew, you know, who, we produce together, he. It was a story about a monk and a young indigenous boy, and my husband suggested that he flip it into a nun. So thats. How the conversation evolved. But it was from personal experience. And thats so interesting, the way that it struck a chord with you, because of your experience, as youve just been saying, because of your father dying. Mmm. And tell me more about that. Why. What was it about the church at that time in your life that meant something to you, do you think . I mean, i think that often cataclysmic things that happen to children, as you see in the new boy, cataclysmic things that happened to this young boy. Children sort of assimilate it in a way that they dont fully understand on a cognitive level when theyre older. But i think i was looking for, when i look at it now, i was looking for some sense of understanding of what i had perceived as the disappearance of my father, which seemed some inverse miracle, you know, that. How could he be there one day and gone the next . And there was something comforting about the community and the rituals in the church, and. The secrets and the guilt, and all of the subtext that was in, you know, the rituals of the catholic church. So i wasnt at all raised catholic, or at all religious, and i was, i think, in a very simplistic way hoping that the hand of god would come down and tell me, you know, your fathers playing golf. Hell be. You know, youll see him in a few years� time. But of course that didnt happen, and so what happened then is i thenjust thought. I grew up sort of. Where the suburbs meet the country, and so ijust went on my bike, and i went into nature down by the yarra river and. And so i think, warwick and i, our Conversation Led from organised religion and the borderland of where your connection to country is, where that intersects and how, often with organised religion, theres an incuriosity about sort of more pagan or indigenous spirituality. But yet, often, indigenous cultures are intensely curious about organised religion. And so thats sort of. It was an unexpected connection that we both had. And thats very much what we see through the eyes of the new boy. Mmm. Of aswan, because he is intrigued by the catholic church. He is intrigued by the statue of christ on the cross, which. Seeing it through his eyes, you realise actually what a violent image it is. Incredibly violent. With the Crown Of Thorns and the nails through the hands and the stigmata. But you also see very. I mean, hes such an extraordinary cinematographer. You also see very early on the new boy trying to connect with this new country that hes been landed into, hugging a tree, like, trying to find connection through the wood of the tree. And then he sees this tortured wooden christ, thinking this tree has given birth to this tortured face and body with nails in it. So hes trying to find a connection to that piece of wood and what that wood is trying to tell him. You know, and i think one of the remarkable things for me about the script, which then became the film that warwick made, is that the central protagonist is largely silent. So these images take on a great resonance, and of course the score that warren ellis and nick cave bequeathed us, gave us, was so. You know, it became the soulful partner to the images that warwick creates. And im interested as well in the climate of the times, theres a subtlety in the film that its. Theres no real abuse of the child. No. There isnt really violence, but its about the clash of cultures and actually, in the end, the extinction of his culture. And this was Government Policy in a sense, wasnt it, in that period . Absolutely. I mean, i dont think. You look at whats being unearthed in canada, you know, and what has continually been unearthed in australia, there was a really damaging, brutal policy of the eradication of indigenous culture. And certainly when. Even when i was at school, we were taught of dreamtime stories, but sort of in a way that one would be told disney fables. We werent really invited into or told the stories by the people themselves, who theyd been passed onto. And i think its to our. You know, to our detriment, that, you know, weve not. Weve not been able to really adhere to the deep time vibrant history that came before white settlement. And i think that this is something that warwick has been wrestling with, i think, in bringing this film to life. And its been a fascinating journey and a privilege to be part of, both as an actor and as a producer, that when we screened this at cannes, which of course is in france, a colonising country, when weve been to canada, which was a colonised country, and obviously screened it in australia and then going to italy, and, you know, now to england, another colonising country, just to see the reactions, and through all those. Different resonances in different countries. Yes, has been really fascinating, because of course this is an australian story, but the resonances that it has, i think, are much more sort of archetypical and fable like. And its still very much a live issue in australia, isnt it, the whole issue of rights for Indigenous People . There was a referendum. Mmm. Which you campaigned on, and which you lost, which must have been very disappointing for you. Your side lost. Yes, i mean, iwouldn� t even say that i campaigned on it. I think because it was. It was a very. It was an opportunity not only to finally recognise. The voice of one of the largest. Oldest continuing cultures in human history, and to place that into the constitution so that it doesnt become a politicalfootball, not only did we fail to recognise that, it, i think, was a massive opportunity to. To look at the complexity of australian history, and to move forward as a modern democracy. And that opportunity was unfortunately passed up, and there is a lot of grief around that, and a lot of reckoning. I mean, back in 2008, when my husband, andrew upton, and i moved back to australia to take over the Sydney Theatre Company, there was a sorry saying ceremony in parliament, and we all wept when we thought, this is a moment where we can finally move forward, because, of course, unexamined trauma, even if its not from your own personal culture, but when you are living through it side by side, when its unexamined, it gets replicated in some way. It gets passed down, and i think that thats a. Its a missed opportunity. Itwas a. So many positives could have come out of it, and now we have to. We have to look at the failure of picking up that opportunity. So. Here we are. I was wondering, listening to you talk about australia in this way, how important is your australian identity to you . Because youve lived in this country for many years. Yes, its. Look, as a white middle class australian woman whos had, you know, incredible opportunities, i have a very particular perspective, dont it . And ive had the luxury of travel and exposure to many cultures, and. But you never really leave australia. And i dont know whether you feel that way . Are you. Were you born and bred here . I was born in ireland and left when i was very young, but i certainly still feel a pull to ireland. Mmm. It� s definitely part of my identity. Yes. But ive lived here and in other countries as well. Yes, and i think that those. Those stories that your grandmothers, your grandfathers, tell you about where they came from, they do become part of your. Your dreamscape, or how you imagine yourself, but i have a very strong pull to the australian landscape. And i think its no surprise that some of the worlds great cinematographers and film makers have come out of australia, warwick being. Warwick thornton being one of them. Well, the landscape in new boy, i mean, itsjust. Its a character in and of itself. So beautiful. Yes. Just watching the waves going through the fields of wheat. And the sound that the wheat fields make. I mean, it literally took me four or five days to work out what this buzz noise was. I thought. | thought it might have been cicadas, or crickets, or some insect equivalent, but it was simply the noise of the sheaves of wheat moving against one another, this incredible buzz. And there are noises and shapes and Shadows And Light Plays that happen in australia that have etched themselves into my. Into my soul i dont want to sound too highfalutin about it in ways that i cant even articulate. So im constantly pulled back. Ithink. You know, i remember speaking to the late, great clive james about this, is that you constantly reference australia, even when youre, you know, youve lived many decades elsewhere. Its a very, very powerful and magnetic place, because of, you know, indigenous culture. I also wanted to ask you about your own performance, because you. 0h can we talk about Something Else . No, its really. I mean, youve taken a lot of risks with it as someone whos known for being obviously a very good actress, but a very beautiful woman, but in this film, you play a nun, i dont think youve got any make up on, and as one Film Reviewer says, youve gone the full wimple. The full wimple i have. And im not alone here, i mean, think about the silhouette of nuns in cinema history. Its a very alluring, provocative silhouette, and i dont mean that in any sexual way, im. Ijust mean it visually. Youre always thinking about, psychologically as well as physically, whats underneath. And so with heather wallace, who designed the costumes, you think, well, thats an easyjob. Theres a couple of nuns and a couple of farm workers and a few boys, but she worked long and hard with warwick to work out. It wasnt from any particular order of nuns, he just wanted to have a. A wimple and a serre tete that meant that the nun would have to turn her face to look at whoever she was speaking to. He was interested in how the light would play over the face. And so the. It was a lot of kind of almost invisible design that went into that, to work out how then warwick would shoot the faces of, you know, both a white and a black nun. And was there any kind of adjustment for you in doing this . Did you feel it was a risk or did you think, no, this isjust. This is just necessary for the part . Well, let me tell you, there was a lot of make up on there. Cate laughs youre very honest. This is the way i normally look you know. Look, ifound it fascinating, you know, that theres. Originally, this script was written for a. It was called father and son, so it was written for a priest and a young indigenous boy. And we all said, you know, who would want to see that movie and what more could we say about that . If we flip the gender, then suddenly we have a dead priest, we have a nun whos officiating mass, and we have people who are all dislocated from their, you know, their kind of metaphysical country, you know, and their set of belief. And so i found it absolutely intriguing to go into the exploration of what it would mean to be a nun in those particular set of circumstances. And. And getting dressed every day was a real ritual with heather and i. And, you know, just Little Things about. You know, id read that buddhist nuns sometimes wrap their legs in bandages so that they dont catch any insects on their body and. And so i knew that warwick would be shooting under the table, and i thought that there would be a lot of interplay if that bandage became unravelled. Theyre just little tiny symbolic things that you can play with. Even though you only have the one costume, its how you wear that costume. I find it really fascinating. And is that a very important part of things when youre preparing for a role . It is, because i think the more you work in this visual medium, you realise that before you even blink an eye, utter a word, an audience will start to read character and meaning into what you look like. And theres real opportunity. To signal to an audience, and to invite them into a psychological world of a character, and that means that you can then pair back what you say or what you do. And so my relationship with Costume Designers has been a really fruitful, interesting one, even when youre literally just wearing the same costume. And do you think theres been a kind of shift in attitudes towards the way that actors, in particular women, the way that they look . Is there a sort of greater range now of what audiences expect . Erm. She exhales sharply. I dont know. Imean, im. I mean, its always, ithink, an actorsjob to. Surprise is the most wonderful thing, i think. And my husband and i were just talking about this the other day we love surprises. I think a lot of people do. I think when you get what you expect, its always slightly disappointing, even if its wonderful. And youve obviously got a great sense of fun, because im thinking about not so long ago, i think it must have been an awards thing for Margot Robbie as barbie, and you came in wearing. Oh, yes, right . The most. Yes. I mean, look at you, youre very stylish today, but you were wearing this huge pink. That was very stylish. Its in my wardrobe. Really . Yeah. Well retract that, just you wait. Look, and i. It was like a pink meringue, wasnt it, with a huge bow . Tinsel meringue, yeah. I know. Yeah, im going to wear it to my 60th which is some, some years away many decades off. Yeah, decades. Decades off. I dont know. But, look, i think the industry has changed. Enormously. Enormously. And i think women collectively have made that elbow room. And i remember starting out, and i came late to the Film Industry, i was working in the theatre and never really. I mean, the australian industry is incredibly powerful and punches above its weight. You know, its a very cliched phrase, but it does you know, given australias Population Size internationally. But i never expected to make a film and was very happy working in the theatre. And so when i was cast in a film when i was. I think i was 2a, 25 which in dog years at that time for an actress was close to 70 i was told id probably have five good years. And so i thought, well. Somebody actually said that to you . Yes my husband they laugh no, in a really supportive way, he said, i look, you know, when youre. If youre lucky, you might get a decade, so do what you love. Do what interests you, dont worry about getting anywhere. And i thought, yeah, absolutely. And so i took. I was offered bigger parts, but i took smaller parts cos ifound them. I thought, thats going to stretch me more. And. And i suppose. Just incremental step by incremental step, you suddenly find yourself having whats called a career. But that was not something that i ever expected to have at that point, whereas i think, now, women are able to. I think theres more women writing, there are far more women who are producing, in both large and small ways. And youre producing, of course. New boy is produced by your production company. Yes. The one which, as you said, you run with your husband. And is that. Hows that working partnership . Is he as honest in work as he was about your longevity as an actor . Yes. I mean, we were doing it in a small way before we ran the Sydney Theatre Company, but we so enjoyed that decade of producing work for the stage. And, actually, kip williams who took the job after us has got the wonderful show from the Sydney Theatre Company on in the west end now, the picture of dorian grey, with sarah snook, so. Oh, yes. That� s from the same. From succession. Yes. From the same company, which is extraordinary. So we. It was really an extension of the work we did through the Theatre Company there, and weve. I think its a testament, i suppose, to our marriage, really, that, you know, were good life partners, but also balance one another out creatively, from a producorial point of view. So in the partnership with your husband, how do you decide on which projects youre going to put forward or not . Weve got very eclectic taste. I mean, i think we did have when we ran the Sydney Theatre Company, you know, doing 19 shows a year, supporting emerging artists as well as established artists, and with a desire to tour internationally. So whilst the shows were given birth to, so to speak, in australia, we were interested in their. To see where they connect universally, outside your own culture. And i know first hand from touring shows like gross und klein, which is a german play, or streetcar, which liv ullmann directed that, as you tour, the works accrue meaning. And so, for example, with new boy, moving through all these different festivals, the work. We like to provide the film makers that we work with the space to accrue meaning to the film. Because sometimes, a film emerges fully formed, and sometimes, it takes a while to emerge, like the new boy. So, i think you have to. To have it say, this is the sort of work we do. This is the way we work. I think youre not really alive to the needs of the film maker, or to the responses of the audience. Not that youre allowing the audience to tell you what the film is, but you allow the work to grow through the exposure to an audience. So. And do you think it means that. I mean, obviously, youre taken very seriously as an actor, but do you think it gives you more power, more control, the fact that youre a producer, too . Im not interested in power or control, to be honest. Im interested in the conversation. And i think that often that, you know, if youve been relatively successful or impactful in one particular section of an industry, then thats the box youre expected to stay in. And i think it always surprises me when people say to an actor, so, did you have any impact on how the script unfolded, or what your costume was, or how that was shot . And you think, well, what do you think myjob is . Its a collaborative medium. And it depends. You know, if you think about the way Ingmar Bergman worked, he would give actors gestures, you know, but he wouldnt give them a lot of necessarily spoken direction. Through that gesture, he would know, eventually, that would unlock the psychology of the character. So, you have to be alive to the way that every director works. And some directors are more absolute than other directors. And some directors are much more fluid. But to me, its about being part of that conversation and saying, well, you know, as an actor, youre always at the table. And as a producer, you canjust say, well, you have a certain standing in the industry, so if i can help find the money, the space for something be heard and seen, like the new boy, or like christos nikous fingernails or. This is the new film that youre producing, which has Jeremy Allen White and jessie buckley. Yes, and riz ahmed, yes. We were very lucky with the cast. Yes, very lucky. And what are you yourself most looking forward to in the coming months . What am i looking forward to . Im always saying i want to get back into the garden. You know, ifeel its. I love the australian landscape, but i wouldnt necessarily go into long grass and have a picnic there. Im looking forward. You wouldnt know whats in that long grass, would you . No, exactly, exactly but, you know, i am looking forward to harvesting the carrots when they finally come up. Simple things. But im about to. I just finished a film withjimjarmusch, and im about to work with steven soderbergh, who i havent worked with for quite some time. So, its always great to work with directors again. But, yes, and then theres a couple of things that we have on the boil at dirty films. So. Well, thank you so much for telling us about your latest project, the new boy. Cate blanchett, many thanks. Thanks. Hello there. Easter monday brought a day of mixed fortunes, and its going to be a similar story throughout the week. Now, across eastern england, we had some sunshine and where it stayed dry, it was relatively warm 16 degrees, 61 fahrenheit. But cloud and rain pushing its way steadily northwards. It stayed rather grey and overcast in western scotland, Withjust A High of 5 celsius here. Now, that weatherfront is going to linger, weakening all the time. But a Brisk Northeasterly Wind will dominate the story across the far north of scotland. Clearer skies for a time, Early Morning mist and fog, perhaps, for england and wales. Some showers easing away from the southeast. But eventually, as we go through the day, well start to see some outbreaks of rain pushing into the southwest. And as this front gradually moves its way north, the winds will strengthen here. But ahead of it, with some sunny spells injust a few isolated showers, one or two spots, again, could see temperatures into the mid teens. Not a bad afternoon with a few isolated showers for northern ireland. Scotland will stay rather grey and overcast, with outbreaks of showery rain, and that brisk north Easterly Wind at times will make it feel rather cool, just a maximum of 6 8 celsius. Now, well see that Frontal System down to the south west, bringing some wet and windy weather through the night tuesday into the early hours of wednesday morning. The Wind Direction coming from the south west, so it will be a mild start to wednesday, with double figures perhaps likely across the far southeast. But we will see outbreaks of rain gradually pushing their way steadily northwards. The Wind Direction here is south westerly, so driving in some milder air, but we still keep that north easterly feed in scotland a real contrast with the temperatures over the next few days. So were looking at 5 7 degrees across the far north east, highs of 15, possibly 16 degrees once again, somewhere across south and eastern england. Now, towards the end of the week, low pressure is going to continue to dominate, but still that wind source coming all the way from the southwest. So it will be mild, but it will still continue to be pretty wet at times. But the mild air sitting across the vast majority, still the far north east of scotland staying on the cooler side. So, here, those temperatures will struggle a little, but therell be showers or longer spells of rain. When we get some brightness, temperatures are going to respond. Take care. Live from washington, this is bbc news. Hamas authorities in gaza say five aid workers were killed in an israeli air strike. Israel says its investigating the incident. A Senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander is among several killed in an explosion in the syrian capital. Iranian state media blames israel for the attack. Floridas top Court Approves a six week ban on abortion, but will allow voters to have the final say in november. Hello im sumi somaskanda. Thank you forjoining us. We start with multiple developments out of the middle east. Hamas authorities in gaza say four foreign aid workers and their palestinian driver were killed in an israeli air strike in the central city of deir al balah. The workers are said to include a briton, a pole and an australian. Reuters reports that australian Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese confirmed the death of one of the workers killed as Australian Lalzawmi � Zomi Frankcom and is demanding accountability for her death. A medical source at Al Aqsa Hospital told the bbc that the bodies of four people wearing bullet proof vests bearing the logo of the Ngo World Central Kitchen arrived at the hospital. In a statement on x, world central kitchen