Cate Blanchett and young American actress Rooney Mara were left “screaming at the top of their lungs” during a car accident while filming in the US, an on-set source has told the Daily Mail.

According to the source, the actresses were filming a scene for their new movie Carol when Blanchett lost control of the car on an icy road.

Mara and Blanchett at an event in 2014. Photo: Getty

“Cate was driving and everything was fine until she tried to stop the car and the brakes failed,” said the source. “She kept pumping the pedal as fast as she could, but nothing happened. The girls started screaming at the top of their lungs, speeding past the film crew, who’d pulled to the side of the road after they’d finished shooting.”

Blanchett apparently then regained control of the car by making a sharp turn, bringing them to a stop by slamming them into a wooden fence.

Blanchett, 44, and Mara, 28, were unharmed, with Blanchett reportedly telling crew members, “We’re OK! We’re good! The car isn’t good, but we’re fine!”

The duo carried on filming following the incident, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Carol, which is based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt, stars Mara as a department store employee who falls in love with an older woman, played by Blanchett.