Cate Blanchett told Variety this week that she has had “many” relationships with women. We’ve won the internet, I’m going home.

EDIT: She was misquoted.

We didn’t have very many DVDs when I was growing up (the VHS/DVD changeover happened in my teens). The few we did have were random cast-offs from neighbors, a disparate collection of movies I watched on our brand-new laptop over and over and over again. One of our first was the movie Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett. I first watched it one day when I was home from school with a fever. Tucked up into bed, this is the girl I saw:

She was twenty-nine when she played that part. And oh, was she captivating. She held a special place in my queer little heart. So imagine my delight when Cate came out this week, in her cover story in Variety magazine. An excerpt:

When asked if this is her first turn as a lesbian, Blanchett curls her lips into a smile. “On film — or in real life?” she asks coyly. Pressed for details about whether she’s had past relationships with women, she responds: “Yes. Many times,” but doesn’t elaborate. Like Carol, who never “comes out” as a lesbian, Blanchett doesn’t necessarily rely on labels for sexual orientation. “I never thought about it,” she says of how she envisioned the character. “I don’t think Carol thought about it.” The actress studied the era by picking up banned erotic novels. “I read a lot of girl-on-girl books from the period,” she says.

And just to bring us up to speed, this is what Cate Blanchett looks like now: Goddamn, Ms. Blanchett. I think maybe it’s time for a lady James Bond. Head over to Autostraddle for more on the article and to celebrate with @Hhogie, Riese and the crew.