Cate Blanchett once tried to turn her family vegetarian, but her sneaky scheme didn't exactly go as planned.
Blanchett appeared on the May 20 episode of the Ruthie's Table 4 podcast hosted by Ruthie Rogers where the Carol star revealed her, admittedly "a little bit cruel," plan to convince her husband, Andrew Lipton, and their four children to choose a vegetarian lifestyle and how it ultimately failed.
The Australian actress shared that, in addition to a small garden, her family once had pigs. Though they no longer have any of the animals, there was a time where she hoped the creatures could sway her family away from eating meat.
"It was my Machiavellian plan to turn my family vegetarian," she said. "I thought, if we get pigs, then the children will realize that the sausages they eat, the ham, the bacon, it all comes from these pigs. And my now-17 year old called himself the pig whisperer, and he used to go up and he used to hug the pigs, and stroke the pigs."
Unfortunately for the Tár actress, even her son's connection to the creatures couldn't lead to the outcome she was looking for when they eventually "turned into sausages as ethically and as humanely as you can."
"They were sitting down putting the ketchup on their sausages and I said, you know, 'this used to be Benson and Hedges,'" she said, referring to the names her husband gave the pigs. "And they said, 'this is Benson and Hedges?' And my now-17 year old said, 'delicious.' So it didn't work."
Ruthie's Table 4 dives into how food impacts the lives of her guests and the special memories they may associated with certain meals. According to the podcast description: "Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort."
Follow along with Ruthie's Table 4 or catch up on past episodes at iHeart.com.