Todd Haynes’ lesbian romance “Carol” is on many a must-see list — including Women and Hollywood’s — but the journey of making and releasing the Cate Blanchett/Rooney Mara drama has been anything but smooth sailing. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s controversial 1952 novel “The Price of Salt,” the film had been stuck in development for 15 years.

In an interview with Variety — the same one that’s been making headlines for Blanchett’s matter-of-fact acknowledgement that she’s had “many” past relationships with women — the actress expressed frustration that it took such a long time for “Carol” to get made.

“It was so hard,” Blanchett revealed. “Midrange films with women at the center are tricky to finance. There are a lot of people laboring under the misapprehension that people don’t want to see them, which isn’t true.”

The actress described the disproportionately high number of male-led films as bad business, saying, “It’s not serving the audience. People want to see good films. We should have equal access to the multiplexes.”

“Carol” will compete for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

[via Variety]