Cate Blanchett Denies Previous Lesbian Relationship, Says Variety Magazine Took Quote Out of Context

Cate Blanchett revealed in an interview that she'd had many relationships with women, which sparked speculation as to who it could be. However, she is now saying that none of the relationships were sexual ones.

Blanchett also sought to explain an interview she gave to Variety magazine last week, in which she was reported as saying she had had been in relationships with women "many times".

Blanchett, who has three sons Dashiell, 13, Roman, 10, and Ignatius, six, and adopted baby daughter Edith with husband Andrew Upton, has insisted she didn't say she had been in a relationship with a woman "many times" during an interview with Variety.com which was released earlier this week.

The two-time Oscar winner said "From memory, the conversation ran, 'Have you had relationships with women?' And I said, 'Yes, many times. Did you mean have I had sexual relationships with women? Then the answer is no.' But that (last part) obviously didn't make into print.'"

In her latest movie, she plays a woman involved in a lesbian relationship in Carol, said her comments were taken out of context and used the occasion to call for worldwide progress on gay issues.

On Tuesday, Variety ran an interview with Blanchett where she briefly discussed her personal life in relation to the film, which stars Blanchett and Rooney Mara as two women in love in the 1950s.

When asked if this is her first turn as a lesbian by Variety magazine, Blanchett curls her lips into a smile.

"On film - or in real life?" she asks coyly. Pressed for details about whether she's had past relationships with women, she responds: "Yes. Many times," but doesn't elaborate. Like Carol, who never "comes out" as a lesbian, Blanchett doesn't necessarily rely on labels for sexual orientation. "I never thought about it," she says of how she envisioned the character. "I don't think Carol thought about it." The actress studied the era by picking up banned erotic novels. "I read a lot of girl-on-girl books from the period," she says.