Blanchett eyed for Pauline Hanson role

February 19, 2009 - 3:42PM

Filmmakers hope to bring Pauline Hanson's life to the big screen.

A fish-and-chip shop owner rockets onto the national stage, flashes like a comet across the political landscape and ends up dancing with the stars.

There must be a movie in there somewhere, and Melbourne filmmakers Leanne Tonkes and Steve Kearney reckon they're the ones to make it.

What else could a biopic about One Nation founder Pauline Hanson be called but Please Explain.

With that sorted, Kearney and Tonkes have turned their minds to a suitable actor to play the fiery redhead and reckon Cate Blanchett would nail it.

Someone who's played roles as varied as Queen Elizabeth I and Bob Dylan should have no trouble capturing the essence of Pauline, they say.

Tonkes said she found the real Ms Hanson "charismatic" during her research for the film.

"She's lovely, very nice, very charming and patient and understanding," she said.

Tonkes said it could be six months to two years before the movie goes into production.

"Australians should be making films, like the rest of the world, about political subject matter," she said.

Whether dewy-eyed middle-aged men will be elbowing each other aside to see the film - in the same way they clambered to get close to Ms Hanson at the height of her political career - remains to be seen.