Cate Blanchett Loved The Hot Dog Fingers Tribute In Everything Everywhere All At Once

As awards season chatter ramps up, Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh have emerged as two frontrunners for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. Despite Yeoh's status as a veteran performer and a resume that includes martial arts thrillers, James Bond films, and epic dramas, recognition for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" would be her first Oscar nomination. A win would make her the first Asian woman to receive the award.

Blanchett, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Academy Awards. The actress won Oscars for her roles in "The Aviator" and "Blue Jasmine," plus she's earned four more nominations (via IMDb). She's expected to receive another nomination for her performance in Todd Field's "Tár."

Blanchett and Yeoh aren't just linked as awards season contenders. One scene in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is a subtle nod to one of Blanchett's Oscar-nominated performances.

In a conversation between Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh for Variety, the "Tár" star brought up a hunch regarding the iconic hotdog fingers scene in "Everything Everywhere All at Once." "You had frankfurter fingers," Blanchett told Yeoh, "and you were standing behind [Jamie Lee Curtis], caressing her lovingly in these pictures. I thought, 'That really looks like a scene from 'Carol.'" Cate Blanchett starred — and was nominated for an Oscar for her role — as the titular Carol.

Yeoh replied that her film was filled with cinematic allusions, including "In the Mood for Love" and the films of Stephen Chow. "The Daniels have this way of paying homage to people they love, films that have touched them," she said of the film's directing duo. She continued, "I think what we were trying to say in the scene was these two people love each other. And I'm not surprised if they took inspiration from 'Carol.' It would not surprise me."

As it turns out, Blanchett's hunch was correct. Larkin Seiple, the cinematographer of "Everything Everywhere All at Once," confirmed that the silly-yet-poignant scene was based on "Carol," Todd Haynes' queer period romance from 2015. "The hotdog hands ... started as an ode to 'Carol,'" Seiple told Film School Rejects. "We thought it'd be hysterical to try to make that universe feel like a Todd Haynes film. But as we were shooting it, we're like, 'This could never be a Todd Haynes film.'" The team scrapped the idea but still shot the scene in a 2:1 aspect ratio to make it feel like a Netflix rom-com. Still, Carol herself was hip to the homage, hotdog hands and all.