Melissa McCarthy and Cate Blanchett Were Goth Teens

By Kate Sullivan, Allure magazine

Are all cool women former high school Goths? I recently learned that Melissa McCarthy and Cate Blanchett, two of my favorite actresses, shared this common past.

When I met McCarthy on the set of her diva-style makeover shoot for Allure's January issue, we talked about her fashion history. As teens, she and her best friend Brian Atwood (yep, that Brian Atwood) would hit up Chicago's Goth clubs. McCarthy told me:

"I wore white-white Kabuki makeup, and I did weird things with proportion, like I'd have these tiny red lips. My hair was dyed a raven blue-black. When I was 16, my sister got really mad at me because I had spent the night in Chicago and I came back with the first two inches of my hairline shaved off-and since I wore white stage makeup I would continue it up so my head looked incredibly deformed. I just got a kick out of it. So I walked in the door, and my sister said, "Isn't anybody going to stop her?" But they didn't. My mom would occassionally take a picture and go, 'This is going to be hilarious in 20 years.'"

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Cut to my interview with Cate Blanchett for this month's Insiders' Guide: The actress, who's the face of SK-II, and I were talking about skin-care, and she revealed that her famously luminous skin might owe some of it's line-free luster to her time as a Goth teen. She said:

"Being in Australia I was really sun conscious. For a couple of summers there I did the baby oil thing and my my mom said, 'Just don't. You'll regret it.' I thought it was a losing battle, so I went down the Goth path. I sort of embraced my paleness. I went whole hog. Dark lips, nails. I shaved my head."

I can't help but think that these extreme beauty experiments are related to the extreme creative talent that both of these actresses possess. That there's some metaphor here about how they transformed and made themselves seen. What do you think? Tell us about your high school style in the comments.

P.S. If you missed it, watch McCarthy's adorable behind-the-scenes video from her Allure shoot. And for more chit-chat with Blanchett, check out the February issue, on newsstands now.

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