Cate Blanchett's Hollywood shock

Cate Blanchett “never, ever” thought she “could work in the film industry".

The Oscar-winning actress admitted she thought her future lay on the stage and she never expected to break into Hollywood.

Speaking at the Rotterdam Film Festival, she said: "I was resigned, happily, to a career in theater. I didn’t think I was that girl. There was a sense women had a certain ‘shelf life’ in the film industry and a certain type of women got to parade on the screen and others didn’t."

And, she urged people not to worry about always being original.

She said: "We are told you have to find your own voice. I would say: Steal from anyone. It’s an homage and a way of connecting through recognition. You are in dialogue with that filmmaker, actor or cinematographer. And that reference, filtered through your own experience, will be unrecognizable. This obsession with being ‘original’ or breaking new ground can often be a trap."

Cate also revealed that watching Visconti’s 'The Stranger' first gave her a love for cinema.

She said: "Our French teacher took us to see it. I learnt more about cinema than I did about French. I don’t think I’ve seen it since, but I was hypnotized by the cinematic storytelling. Also, we grew up in such an incredible moment in Australian cinema-making. I remember watching ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock,’ ‘Sweetie,’ ‘An Angel at My Table.’ I thought: ‘Maybe I will be able to step into that frame’.”

And, while Blanchett, 55, is a huge fan of the horror genre, she admitted that since having children, she can no longer watch it.

The star - who has sons Dashiell, 23, Roman, 20, and Ignatius, 17, and daughter Edith, nine, with husband Andrew Upton - said: "I used to watch a lot of horror. Since I had children, I can’t do that at all. I love my kids, but I’m sad about that."