Cate Blanchett rocks out with Sparks at Glastonbury

Lydia Tár would’ve hated Cate Blanchett’s Glastonbury dance. But the crowd loved it

Cate Blanchett poses in a black-and-white dress in front of a crowd of photographers

Published June 25, 2023 Updated June 26, 2023 2:39 PM PT

Lydia Tár probably would have detested Cate Blanchett‘s unexpected performance at this year’s Glastonbury music festival — but the crowd absolutely ate it up.

The “Tár” star made a cameo this weekend at the English event, joining eclectic-pop sibling duo Sparks onstage for a live performance of “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte.” Her Day-Glo yellow pantsuit and quirky dance moves were a far cry from her Oscar-nominated, no-nonsense portrayal of fictional maestro Lydia Tár.

“We have a super special treat tonight,” singer Russell Mael said Friday during Sparks’ set.

“We did a video for this song recently, and we had the great honor of having the amazing actor Cate Blanchett join us in that video. Without further ado, Cate Blanchett!”

On cue, Blanchett emerged in her vibrant ensemble — complete with green, cat-eye sunglasses and bulky red headphones — before flailing her arms, wiggling her legs and convulsing to the edgy beat. At the end of the number, Blanchett took a deep bow as the audience erupted in cheers and applause.

As mentioned by Mael, the 54-year-old actor previously appeared in the music video for “The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte,” which is basically just three straight minutes of Blanchett dancing while the Mael brothers mill around in the background. The song is the title track of Sparks’ 25th studio album, which came out in May.

Blanchett’s surprise appearance was among several buzzy moments to come out of Glastonbury this weekend.

Singer Lana Del Rey also made headlines after she arrived late for her set, and her performance was cut short. The “Summertime Sadness” hitmaker showed up about 30 minutes late on Saturday, according to the Guardian.

“I was so f— late that I am about to rush this set today,” Del Rey tells the audience in footage from the show.

“If they cut power, they cut power. I’m super f— sorry. My hair takes so long to do. I love you to death. Let’s keep on running the set as its supposed to go.”

The festival didn’t completely turn off the electricity — but it did eventually mute the performer’s microphone to discourage her from staying on past the midnight curfew. Even after her mic stopped working, the “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” artist managed to lead the crowd in an a cappella rendition of her 2012 song “Video Games.”

During her Glastonbury set, Rina Sawayama dedicated her song “STFU” (which stands for “Shut the F— Up”) to fellow musician Matty Healy.

The 1975 frontman recently came under fire for laughing at offensive remarks about rapper Ice Spice, mocking Japanese accents and joking about masturbating to a video of a woman “getting, like, brutalized” on a porn website that prominently features Black women during an episode of the “Adam Friedland Show” podcast.

“I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of these microaggressions,” Sawayama told the crowd.

“So tonight, this goes out to a white man that watches ‘Ghetto Gaggers’ and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough!”

According to Rolling Stone, Sawayama and the 1975 belong to the same record label, Dirty Hit, which is owned by Healy’s manager. In April, Healy apologized to Ice Spice and said his “joking got misconstrued.”

Glastonbury was scheduled to continue Sunday with Elton John, Lil Nas X, Blondie and other musicians. This year’s lineup also features Lizzo, Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Rick Astley.

Times staff writer Astrid Kayembe contributed to this report.