Cate Blanchett discovers her passion in Where’d You Go, Bernadette trailer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Based upon the best-selling novel by Maria Semple, Richard Linklater's WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE stars Cate Blanchett as Bernadette Fox, a once-renowned architect who retreats into a shell of her former self after she gets married and has children. Compelled to reconnect with her creative passions, Bernadette unexpectedly disappears on an epic adventure.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Blanchett confessed that figuring out the characters wasn't easy. "It wasn’t just how complex and painfully absurd her life is, but the brittle way she pits herself against the world," Blanchett said. "In the end, the trickiest thing was tone. It’s one thing to listen to an unrelenting sardonic inner voice in a novel, and another thing entirely to hear it on screen." As for Linklater, he latched on to the emotional core of Semple's novel while giving it his own touch. "I concentrated on what I felt the book was really about at its emotional core, which was an intense portrait of motherhood," Linklater said. "For someone else who loves the book, their favorite part might be something else. You’ve got to jump in as a storyteller and say, 'Well, this is my version.' There’s no one version of any book or story. [It’s] what you’re moved by and what you personally want to explore via this story and these characters."

The official synopsis for WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE:

Based on the runaway bestseller, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is an inspiring comedy about Bernadette Fox (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett), a loving mom who becomes compelled to reconnect with her creative passions after years of sacrificing herself for her family. Bernadette’s leap of faith takes her on an epic adventure that jump-starts her life and leads to her triumphant rediscovery.

WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE will hit theaters on August 16, 2019.