Actresses assemble: Cate Blanchett loved all-female Ocean's 8 cast

An all-female Ocean's spin-off was a long time coming, but it is finally here.

Hollywood star Sandra Bullock and her ensemble cast power up the highly-anticipated Ocean's 8, an expansion of the Steven Soderbergh-directed crime caper trilogy comprising Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).

Opening here on June 14 and helmed by Gary Ross, it focuses on legendary conman Danny Ocean's (George Clooney) estranged sister and master thief Debbie Ocean (Bullock), who puts together a team of crooks, starting with her partner-in-crime Lou (Cate Blanchett), to pull off the heist of the century.

Together, they recruit a crew of specialists: Jeweller Amita (Mindy Kaling), street con Constance (Awkwafina), expert fence Tammy (Sarah Paulson), hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna) and fashion designer Rose (Helena Bonham Carter).

The target is a cool US$150 million (S$200 million) in diamonds that will be around the neck of famous actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), who will be centre stage at the Met Gala.

At The Whitby Hotel in New York City, Blanchett, 49, said of working with seven other women that everyone felt like they were "at the top of their game".

The Oscar-winning Australian actress added: "Rihanna has such incredible energy, Mindy is an extraordinary writer, problem solver and an amazing listener.

"I had met Annie before and I had worked with Sarah before, but everyone else was new.

"And so it's always (like the) first day of school.

"In film, you very rarely have time to rehearse. Lou and Debbie knew one another and that happened very naturally between Sandy and me.

"But everyone else was being assembled, so there was a sense of everyone sniffing each other out that happens in the film, and so I had felt like art had imitated life and it really only took a couple of days and then we were starting to get into the rhythm. I loved it."

I think women have, for better or for worse, had to be stealthy operators. And that is why it is cliched that women are manipulative. Cate Blanchett

Was there a backstory to your and Bullock's characters?

We filmed a lot of flashbacks, but that didn't make it into the movie. I don't know, they might use it if they make another one (sequel). Maybe I won't even have to show up, I have already shot so much stuff. If it didn't make it into the movie, they got me for free.

Do women make better thieves?

There was a line in there - that we are invisible and nobody is looking at us. And I think women have, for better or for worse, had to be stealthy operators. And that is why it is cliched that women are manipulative.

Has it been your experience in your career that you were made to feel invisible or dismissed in any way?

You know, I actually never think about my gender. My instinct is, if that door is closed to me, I don't want to walk through that door, I am going to be Alice in Wonderland and go through this little door here. So it's made me open other doors.

I never thought I would make a film, because people didn't really know what to do with me. I just realised that I had to just take little roles and try and do what I could. I was very happy working in theatre and I didn't think that I would ever make a film. I just kept working in a way that I found satisfying, rather than trying to just get anywhere.

You recently turned down a role where there was no equal pay?

Change is not going to happen overnight. I don't think women have to be patient, and sometimes it happens in a sweep, but lasting change has to be set in stone.

And so we just have to know that we are making progress, but it's not going to happen tomorrow. But I think it's important that in any industry, where a woman is doing the same job as a man, that they get remunerated equally and it's not about greed.

I have worked on films where I have been paid US$10,000 and I have had to put that US$10,000 right back into the film, because the film was about to fall over. I didn't get into the industry to make money, but if my co-stars are doing the same work that I am, then I don't see why I shouldn't be paid the same.

You are always among the most admired on a red carpet, most recently at the Cannes Film Festival.

Oh, it's easy, I wake up and look like that (laughs.) Hair and make-up, I do it all myself.

No, I have had a long creative relationship with a lot of designers, Mr (Giorgio) Armani being one of them, my first. My first cheque from my very first job, I bought an on-sale Armani suit which I still have.

But what I really wanted to do in Cannes was wear all female designers. I have worked in the theatre and I love costumes, so I love collaborating with designers. And it's great to wear young emerging female designers when you have that platform.