Cate Blanchett: In Love for 'Vanity Fair'

Australian actress Cate Blanchett is on the cover of the February edition of Vanity Fair. Accompanied by a stunning series of photographic portraits, Blanchett discusses two topics that are seldom brought up in celebrity interviews:  The danger in being married, and the proximity of death.

To be fair, these themes are central to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and not picked out for mere morbid fascination.

Cate, 39, has been married to playwright Andrew Upton for 11 years.  They have three children, Dashiell, seven, Roman, four, and Ignatius, eight months.

On the uncertainty of marriage: “If you age with somebody, you go through so many roles—you’re lovers, friends, enemies, colleagues, strangers; you’re brother and sister.... That’s what intimacy is, if you’re with your soulmate. Marriage is a risk; I think it’s a great and glorious risk, as long as you embark on the adventure in the same spirit.”

On society's attitude toward death: “We don’t discuss death. There used to be an enshrined period where mourning was a necessary part of going through the process of grieving; death wasn’t considered morbid or antisocial. But that’s totally gone. Now we’re all terrified of aging, terrified of death.”

On her plastic surgery options: "Andrew said he'd divorce me if I did anything. When you've had children, your body changes; there's history to it. I like the evolution of that history; I'm fortunate to be with somebody who likes the evolution of that history."

On having more babies: "Who knows? The world is very overpopulated, but we do make nice ones."

The February issue of Vanity Fair will be available in Los Angeles and New York on December 31, and in the rest of the country on January 6.