Cate Blanchett (Actor)

About Cate Blanchett

A gifted performer who developed her talent at a young age, Cate Blanchett grew into exceptional actress who achieved international acclaim with her stunning Oscar-nominated turn as a young Elizabeth I in Shekhar Kapur’s “Elizabeth” (1998). Prior to that role, the engaging Australian found herself thrust in the spotlight with just her third feature, "Oscar and Lucinda" (1997), starring opposite Ralph Fiennes. As the headstrong proto-feminist heiress whose penchant for gambling draws her to a clergyman with the same predilections, Cate Blanchett delivered a star-making performance that garnered the attention of filmdom’s most esteemed directors. Alluring, yet elusive and possessing an innate intelligence coupled with malleable features – she sometimes seemed plain, but beautiful, often in the same shot – the actress quickly rose to international fame to become one of Hollywood’s most respected and revered talents.

Born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Australia, Blanchett grew up in suburban Ivanhoe near the Yarra River. Her mother, June, a native Australian, was a schoolteacher and her dad, Robert, a Texas-born Navy seaman who wound up Down Under when his ship broke down, put himself through night school and had a career in advertising. But when Blanchett was only 10, her father died from a sudden heart attack. He was just 40 years old. Meanwhile, she developed a passion for films and putting on performances for her friends, which were later translated during her second year at the University of Melbourne. Originally an art history and economics major, Blanchett got her first real taste for acting after appearing in Kris Hemensley’s “European Features.” On a whim, she auditioned for a spot in the National Institute of Dramatic Arts, where she studied from 1990-92 and where, with her performance as Clytemnestra in a production of Sophocles’ “Electra,” she developed an early reputation as a gifted actress.

Although Blanchett left drama school with a solid reputation, she was by no means the hot go-to actress. But in 1993, she generated waves with her win for Best Newcomer at Sydney’s equivalent for the Tony Award with her graceful turn in “Kafka Dances.” That same year, she went on to earn accolades, as well as another award win – this time for Best Actress – for her turn as a female college student who brings charges of sexual harassment against her professor (Geoffrey Rush) in David Mamet's electric play "Oleanna" (1993). She later added the Shakespearean roles of Ophelia and Miranda to her credits, before playing Nina in Anton Chekhov’s "The Seagull" in Australia in 1997. Blanchett made her London stage debut in 1999 with a revival of David Hare's "Plenty,” playing protagonist Susan Traherne, whose life post-World War II is trapped in a permanent state of ineffectual dissent against the ensuing peace. Reviews on the play were scathing against both the play and Blanchett’s performance. Even years later, Blanchett refused to read another review of her work.

Blanchett shortly made her film debut in the short "Parklands" (1996), but soon landed her first feature role as one of the females interned in a Japanese camp in Bruce Beresford's WWII-era drama "Paradise Road" (1997). She further garnered attention – and the 1997 Australian Film Institute Best Supporting Actress Award – as one leg of a romantic triangle (completed by Richard Roxburgh and Frances O'Connor) in the darkly comic "Thank God He Met Lizzie" (1997). Her rising star status was confirmed when she landed the leading role of the Tudor monarch in the biopic "Elizabeth.” Holding her own in a cast that included Geoffrey Rush, Richard Attenborough, Joseph Fiennes and Christopher Eccleston, Blanchett delivered a brilliant turn as the young woman who grows into the stature of her office. By turns an emotional girl and a driven women, her Elizabeth was a multi-dimensional creation that earned numerous accolades including an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

After carrying a major film, it perhaps came as a bit of a surprise that her follow-up roles were predominantly supporting ones – such as with Blanchett exhibiting her comic side, replete with a New Jersey accent as the wife of air traffic controller John Cusack in "Pushing Tin" (1999). Later that same year, she was back in period clothes, first as the wife of a titled man being blackmailed in Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband;” then as Meredith, a character created especially for the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley," a 1950s-era drama about a slick American (Matt Damon) who plots to kill a playboy (Jude Law) in order to assume his identity in Anthony Minghella's adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel.

Blanchett continued to alternate between showy supporting roles and strong leads. She demonstrated her chameleonic abilities essaying a Southern widow with psychic abilities in the gothic thriller "The Gift" (2000), and on the heels of that film, was terrific as a gold-digging Russian chorus girl in "The Man Who Cried" (2001). The former was co-written by her "Pushing Tin" co-star Billy Bob Thornton, who based Blanchett’s character on his own mother. The actress remained busy and consistently employed, reuniting with Thornton in the comedy "Bandits," followed by a turn as Kevin Spacey's ex-wife in "The Shipping News” and the titular role in "Charlotte Gray" (all 2001). Meanwhile, Blanchett had a small, but significant part as the elf queen Galadriel in the epic "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy: "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), "The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Return of the King" (2003). Additionally, she acted opposite her "The Gift" co-star Giovanni Ribisi in "Heaven" (2002), Tom Tykwer's English-language debut.

Blanchett received rave reviews for her turn as the real-life crusading Irish journalist whose life is endangered by criminal elements when she pursues her mob investigation too far in "Veronica Geurin" (2003). In 2004, she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards for her dual performance as "herself" and a jealous relative in Jim Jarmousch's anthological riff, "Coffee & Cigarettes.” Blanchett – who Leonardo DiCaprio at that time referred to as "the female Daniel Day-Lewis" for her chameleon-like qualities – tackled two wildly different roles in 2004. First, she played a pregnant female journalist caught in an off-kilter romantic triangle between an undersea explorer (Bill Murray) and his possible son (Owen Wilson) in Wes Anderson's comedy "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Next she captured the coltish, often haughty charisma and unforgettable New England cadences of Hollywood superstar Katharine Hepburn – one of Howard Hughes' (DiCaprio) more serious paramours in director Martin Scorsese's impressive Hughes biopic, "The Aviator." Blanchett was widely recognized for her performance and earned several awards for Best Supporting Actress, including, at last, the Academy Award. Blanchett's victory gave her the unique distinction of becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for playing an Oscar-winning actress.

Blanchett was little-seen on the big screen for most of 2005, though she did star in the Australian-made thriller “Little Fish,” playing a recovering drug addict trying to get her life back in order when a criminal kingpin (Sam Neill) forces her to confront her greatest fear. She next starred in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s complex “Babel” (2006), a dense and heartbreaking look at confusion, fear and the depths of love. Set on different continents – Asia, Africa and North America – “Babel” told three separate stories brought together by a single random act of violence. Blanchett played an American tourist traveling with her husband (Brad Pitt) in Morocco when a stray bullet from a rifle crashes through their bus window, seriously wounding her and touching off a series of events – including the couple’s Mexican housekeeper (Adriana Barraza) trying to cross the border, a neglected Japanese girl (Rinko Kikuchi) scouring Japan for love in all the wrong places, and two Moroccan boys (Said Tarchani and Boubker Ait El Caid) dealing with their culpability in the shooting – that underscore the fear and confusion brought about by the failure to communicate.

She next starred in “The Good German” (2006), playing the former lover of a U.S. Army war correspondent (George Clooney) in post-war Berlin who is trying to escape the war’s aftermath – and her own dark past – before being discovered. Blanchett next co-starred in “Notes on a Scandal” (2006), playing an attractive new art teacher at a London high school engaging in an illicit affair with a 15-year-old student (Andrew Simpson) whose secret is guarded by the school’s obsessively voyeuristic history teacher (Judi Dench), a role that earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. Though she lost out to newcomer Jennifer Hudson, Blanchett was given a shot at redemption by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2007, Blanchett returned to familiar territory with “The Golden Age,” Shekhar Kapur’s sequel to “Elizabeth” that focused on the Virgin Queen’s relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen). Even more impressive, Blanchett – obviously a woman – essayed singer/songwriter legend, Bob Dylan in the unique film chronicling Dylan's life, "I'm Not Here." So impressive was she by morphing into a man – and a quirky man, at that – that she won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, paving the way to an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 80th Academy Awards. Meanwhile, her second go-round as Queen Elizabeth earned Blanchett another Oscar nod that year, this time for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

Family

Name:	Relation:	Notes:
Andrew Upton	husband	Married in June 1997
Roman Robert Upton	son	Born April 23, 2004 in London, England
Dashiell John Upton	son	Born Dec. 6, 2001 in London, England
Ignatius Martin Upton	son	Born April 13, 2008; father, Andrew Upton
June Blanchett	mother	Australian
Robert Blanchett	father	American (from Texas); met Blanchett's mother while he was in the US Navy; died c. 1979
Robert Blanchett	brother	Older
Genevieve Blanchett	sister	Younger

Milestones

	Appeared as an extra in a film made in Egypt while visiting the country on holiday
	Attracted attention for her performance in "Electra" at the National Institute of Dramatic Art
	Born and raised in Melbourne
1992	Joined Sydney Theatre Company, appeared in "Oleanna," starring opposite Geoffrey Rush
1993	Made TV debut in a commercial
1994	Co-starred in the Australian TV program "Heartland"
1994	TV acting debut in episodes of the Australian series "Police Rescue"
1996	Made film acting debut in the short "Parklands"
1997	Co-starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in "Oscar and Lucinda," directed by Gillian Armstrong
1997	Feature film debut in "Paradise Road"
1997	Had featured role in the Australian film "Thank God He Met Lizzie"; won Best Supporting Actress Award from Australian Film Institute
1998	Played title role in Shekhar Kapur's "Elizabeth," a film biography of Queen Elizabeth I; received Best Actress Oscar nomination
1999	Had featured roles in Barry Levinson's "Pushing Tin" and Anthony Minghella's "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
1999	Made London stage debut in the Donmar revival of David Hare's "Plenty"
2000	Cast as a Southern widow with psychic abilities in "The Gift"
2000	Co-starred as a Russian chorus girl in "The Man Who Cried"; screened at Venice; released in USA in 2001
2001	Cast as Petal Bear, the wife of Quoyle (Kevin Spacey) in "The Shipping News"
2001	Played the title character in Gillian Armstrong's "Charlotte Gray"
2001	Portrayed the elf queen Galadriel in the Peter Jackson-directed "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings"
2002	Portrayed slain Irish journalist Veronica Guerin in "Chasing the Dragon: The Veronica Guerin Story"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama
2002	Reprised Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers"
2002	Starred in "Heaven," Tom Tykwer's English-language directorial debut
2003	Again portrayed Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
2003	Starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the suspense thriller "The Missing," directed by Ron Howard
2004	Cast in Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes" a series of short stories that all have coffee and cigarettes in common; received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female
2004	Portrayed legendary screen icon Katharine Hepburn opposite Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress
2006	Co-starred with Brad Pitt as a tragedy-stricken American couple vacationing in Morocco in "Babel"
2006	Portrayed an art teacher who is arrested for having an affair with a 15-year-old student in "Notes on a Scandal"; received Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2006	With husband Andrew Upton, named as joint artistic directors of Australia's Sydney Theatre Company (STC).
2007	Portrayed Bob Dylan at one distinct stage of his life, in Todd Haynes' film "I'm Not There"; received SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress
2007	Reprised her award winning role in the sequal, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; earned Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama
2008	Cast as the villian in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"; directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas and co-starring Harrison Ford as Indy

Notes

"Cate has this slightly magic quality, as if she can be transported into other worlds." - director Gillian Armstrong to The New York Times, Dec. 28, 1997

"Film just chews up actors like nobody's business, and I'm not particularly interested in being chewed up. I think the camera can only look at somebody's face for so long. I guess you have to accept the roles you think are right at the time. You CAN build a career, but these days there doesn't seem to be much interest in people being actors. I'm sounding very holier than thou, but I sometimes think the whole thing is like one big commercial. I can't seem to separate the ideas from the images. Maybe I shouldn't be trying. But you do want people to remember the films you do for longer than the time it takes them to eat their popcorn." - Cate Blanchett in Interview, January 1998

"Go on. Say it. I've looked ugly. That's O.K. The greatest compliment I think I've ever had was when another actor said I had an 'actor's face'. There's a line in the Botho Strauss play 'Big and Little' where it describes a character as 'a woman... not old, not young,' and I hope that I'm a woman, not ugly, not beautiful. I'm as vain as the next person, let's face it, but it's really important to try to shed that vanity. I'm not opposed to looking what is commonly termed as ugly." - Blanchett quoted in Vanity Fair, March 1999.

"I almost don't know what a character is until six months after I finish playing it." - Cate Blanchett quoted at the Web magazine Urban Cinefile (www.urbancinefile.com.au), Feb. 9, 2000

"I like to do things I've never done before," she says. "I like things to be tough because then you've got to nut out a way of doing them. It's like rally driving: you kind of know where you're going but you don't really. And the bigger and more diverse you body of work, the more adept you become at tackling new things, the more you have at your fingertips." - Blanchett quoted to Empire magazine, December 2007

"I'll see an extraordinary performance by a woman and it's reduced to the word 'luminous', it does piss me off. I read a review of Kate Winslet in 'Hideous Kinky', and it said she looked ravishing; it didn't even talk about her [acting]." - Blanchett on how critics evaluate actresses to Premiere, March 1999

"I'm very interested in the ephemerality of the theater. It's like falling in love, really. People talk about those gossamer days when they first met the love of their life. I think the same thing happens in theater. Each night 300 or 400 or 500 people are going to see something that's only going to happen once. It's a bit like a cloudscape, it's never exactly the same." - Blanchett quoted in The Boston Globe, Nov. 15, 1998

"It's really important to me as an actor that I try to rise to a part and not reduce it down to me. Obviously I agree with [David] Mamet. You never want to lose yourself in a role. I'm interested in doing someone who is bigger than me." - Cate Blanchett quoted in The Chicago Sun-Times Nov. 15, 1998

"People always treat me like I'm being coy or untruthful if I say there's no grand plan, that acting is just an interesting thing that I found myself doing. It's not an end point." - Blanchett to The Guardian, Dec. 1, 2000

"She is, without question, one of the best actresses of her generation. And when I say best I mean that she is someone who could play anything. I could give her any character, and she could do it. She can transform. Besides having an incredible quality on camera, a real unusual beauty, she is very intelligent and has great emotional depth. But she could also play a really dumb broad, too." - director Gillian Armstrong quoted in The New York Times, Dec. 24, 2000

"She's so fantastic. She reacts to small instructions, works in fine brush strokes. If you say, 'Can you adjust this performance?' she'll be able to do it in degrees, 5%, 10%, each take is just a little different, She's the most finely tuned actress I've ever worked with." - "Elizabeth" director Shekhar Kapur quoted in The Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 1998

"The older I've become, I'm much less self-involved. I wince when I think about myself in my early twenties." - Blanchett to Premiere magazine, October 2006

"When she does speak, there's that remarkable voice, silky on the surface but drawn downward as well, primed for her sudden dives into a rich, dark lower register. Blanchett is fluent when talking about the nuts and bolts of acting, never once drifting into ditsy actor speak about 'getting centered'" - From "Cate Blanchett's Pale Fire" by Laura Jacobs, Vanity Fair, March 1999