Arya, I totally get what you're saying. Believe me, I know the hardest part for us Blake fans is the waiting and waiting for new roles we can celebrate and look forward to. I just want to remind you of what Blake said herself in last month's ELLE issue:
I'm a person that takes time with everything I do. And if I make a decision, it's because I'm incredibly confident in it. I'm not a rash person.
I really like to live by delayed gratification.
And also in this other interview:
...Being so beautiful why you are not starring in romantic comedies?
Blake
: Roles of students from UES aren't interesting for me now. I choose roles which are completely different from my role in GG. This is my principal position.
I have a ton of offers to play in comedies, but I more likely say yes to a conflicting role in a ambiguous film.
It gives more perspective into her selection process. If there's one thing we should know by being fans of Blake, it's to be pleasantly surprised by her. She expects the best for herself and her career and she wouldn't settle for anything less. After all, like Halolulu pointed out, she's spent every weekend since the first week of October with Ryan and yet she still surprised us by getting cast as the lead in Soderbergh movie (however that turned out). She only auditions and considers scripts and parts she's passionate about. She's doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes (Penn even commended her for it in an interview) and working incredibly hard, it's just that we can't see it now and yes, it makes us impatient.
Coming from a background like GG, there's the temptation for her to take a lot of crap and trust me when I say we could have seen her take the lead roles in many bad movies but she understands that she has to establish herself as a talent and a force especially because she's so pretty and people would be willing to write her off because of her looks. She could very easily go the Katherine Heigl / Jennifer Aniston / Kristen Bell rom-com route, and get a lot of money and projects from that but she understands that once she goes down that path of fluff, that's it for her. It would be hard to convince people she's nothing more than a rom-com mediocre actress.
At the same time, there are so many up and coming young actresses fighting for a place as future superstars and so it's gonna be hard for her, again back to Gossip Girl which doesn't help matters at all. But she takes her parts and delivers every time, like she's going to for Savages. Do you know why people actually hate her the most? Because she's not content being mediocre and challenges herself and tussles with A-listers and Oscar nominees for roles. Who was took the Glinda part in Oz that Blake was considering last year? Michelle Williams, 3-time Oscar nominee. Who stole the Soderbergh role from Blake? Rooney Mara, recent Oscar nominee. Who was she tussling with for parts in The Silver Linings Playbook, The Great Gatsby and The Dark Knight Rises? Natalie Portman, Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Lawrence etc. Which directors is she auditioning for? Auteurs like Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, Steven Soderbergh, Baz Luhrmann, Oliver Stone, Sam Raimi, Ben Affleck (who is WB's golden boy right now) etc. And they are taking notice and keeping her in mind - David O. Russell considers her a friend. Even the head of Warner Bros. (which is like the 'big boy' studio) is a fan of her talents. Don't underestimate the extent to which GG limits her too, she can't take or even be considered for some roles because of GG's filming schedule.
All I'm saying is be patient. Blake is going to surprise us as she usually does. And also accept that it might take time, she isn't going to sign off on stuff that won't help her in the long run. Who knows she might take a break this summer if she doesn't get any projects worthy of her time rather than working just to work? She's talked about how she likes to travel so she could work on her own character too, which is equally important. And I totally agree with you that she probably doesn't like news of her auditions to come out until she gets the role seeing as how people were savaging her in 2010 for even deigning to audition with the girls I listed above. Just be patient Arya, Blake doesn't disappoint. Remember this time last year? With Lainey all but declaring that Blake was over and that the 'buzz' had worn off? And then less than a week later, we got a triple whammy of roles: Oz, Savages and Hick?
I didn't even intend to write this long lol. I tend to get long-winded . I do want to add one last thing that I totally agree that Savages is crucial for her, but from all indications from haters and viewers alike, she totally and completely delivers so that's at least something to look forward to. And Hick? Despite the negative reviews for the movie she, Eddie, and Chloe have been named as bright spots in the movie. I understand the gratification of seeing her on the big screen, but we only want to see the best of her and for that, we'll have to take it one step at a time.
Oh and welcome EternalMagic