3:48PM Clem Bastow | Look, we know what it’s like to try and make it in this heady world of show business; we’ve seen 42nd Street and A Star Is Born, we know how it all works.
So, we know that when you’re a starlet trying to get a leg up, you take what you can get – we’re just not sure that
going about it the way Jessica Marais has is the way to go:
Rising actress Jessica Marais has shunned walking in the shadow of Hollywood star Cate Blanchett, demanding to be known only on her own merits.
Comparisons between the National Institute of Dramatic Art graduates began to fly after Marais’s costume from her final stage production Sweet Charity joined a selection of Blanchett’s memorabilia archived at the prestigious school more than 16 years ago.
While the South African-born beauty is flattered by the rare storage move and being dubbed the next Blanchett, she’s also aware it could be the kiss of death.
“I want to be the next Jessica Marais not Cate Blanchett,” the 23-year-old said this week.
“It detracts from what is unique about you, which is how you get the role.”
Sooo… they went to the same acting school at different times, and when said school wanted to raise some funds, it sold off some old costumes, which happened to include gear worn – separately – by both actresses.
At which point did people go from that information to “the new Cate Blanchett”? Admittedly this is equally the fault of the press as much as it is Marais herself, but still.
We’re going to adopt this immediately as our new personal PR campaign; just pick a famous person you are not actually being compared to, and then complain about being compared to them.
To wit: “Could people please stop saying Defamer Australia is the next New York Times? We’d prefer to be judged on our own exceptional merits.”
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