Cate Blanchett recalls director's harsh 'tough love' on set of Babel

Cate Blanchett has recalled director Alejandro González Iñárritu's harsh dose of "tough love" on the set of their 2006 film Babel.

In the Mexican filmmaker's psychological drama, Blanchett and Brad Pitt played an American couple on holiday in Morocco following the death of their infant son. The holiday goes awry when their tour bus comes under attack.

Reflecting on the "incredibly chaotic" shoot during a talk at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, the Australian actress remembered her and Pitt receiving harsh feedback from Iñárritu during their first day of filming.

"My son had an accident in Morocco, so I was quite traumatised anyway. So maybe that was art imitating life. I remember the first day we shot, Brad Pitt and I shot a scene, and we did a couple of takes, and Iñárritu came up and said, 'This is s**t. What is this s**t?'" she recalled, according to a video posted on social media. "He said, 'There's nothing here. This scene has to work or the movie doesn't work,' and walked off."

The Oscar-winning actress added that the note was "a form of direction" because it "knocks you off your centre".

"It's a really interesting time for us to think about the way we talk to one another on set, because some people would say, 'That's incredibly disrespectful,' or 'That's upsetting to me,' but sometimes a director can lead with love, but incredibly tough love," she continued.

"I've been thinking a lot about how we can create respectful spaces for one another that are still robust and demanding. We have to be rigorous when we make films," she explained. "We have to play, we're playing, but sometimes someone's, they're blocked, and you have to try ways to help unblock them."

Addressing a particular look she gives in the final scene, Blanchett quipped, "Maybe that look was also just me frightened that Iñárritu was gonna come in and say, 'It's s**t' to me again."

Babel competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and Iñárritu won the Best Director Award. The film went on to receive seven Oscar nominations and win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama.