Cate Blanchett Says She's 'Fine' After Suffering 'Little Nick to the Head' in Chainsaw Accident

The Mrs. America actress also opened up about homeschooling her 5-year-old daughter while self-isolating

Cate Blanchett. Photo: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Cate Blanchett is still all in one piece following a minor power tool accident.

On a recent episode of A Podcast of One's Own, the Oscar winner, 51, shared a story involving a clumsy encounter with a chainsaw — assuring fans she's okay after suffering a "little nick" to her head. Blanchett told host Julia Gillard, the former Australian prime minister, that the at-home incident is less thrilling than it seems.

"I had a bit of a chainsaw accident yesterday, which sounds very, very exciting, but it wasn't," she said. "Apart from the little nick to my head, I'm fine."

"Be very careful with that chainsaw," Gillard said. "You've got a very famous head — I don't think people would like to see any nicks taken out of it."

"I know," replied Blanchett. "I wanna keep it on my shoulders!"

The Lord of the Rings star — who's mom to daughter Edith Vivian Patricia, 5, and sons Ignatius Martin, 12, Roman Robert, 16, and Dashiell John, 18, with husband Andrew Upton — also opened up about self-isolating with her family during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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"I had taken a year off being a working mother of four, my eldest son was doing his A-levels," she said, "and so I took the year off ostensibly to be with him and support him through that exam period, and then all of that exam stuff evaporated."

"And, of course, I'm left with an 18-year-old who doesn't really want to have anything to do with me," she laughed about Dashiell, who she said plans to enter film school soon. "So it's a little bit discombobulating."

Blanchett said she also found herself serving as kindergarten teacher to her youngest, reaffirming her respect for teachers after her "challenging" experience homeschooling.

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"I have huge respect for the teaching profession, I always have," she said. "... I hope, out of this, that teachers' wages will be increased and their respect will be, you know, amplified by COVID-19."

Blanchett's chainsaw-weilding skills likely won't affect her training for her upcoming action role. The actress was cast as Lilith in an upcoming movie adaptation of the Borderlands video game franchise, Variety reported.

The film will be helmed by Eli Roth, who previously directed Blanchett in 2018's The House With a Clock in Its Walls.

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