Cate Blanchett's Biography

Who is Cate Blanchett?

Her father died when she was 10, and she was brought up by her mother, a teacher. Cate Blanchett went to the Methodist Ladies College.

Cate Blanchett got her first taste of acting in films when she was in Egypt between University and drama school.

In Cate Blanchett's interview with The Guardian, she explained:

"I was going to stay in England with a friend, but because I forgot to organise my papers they gave me just one week in the country. I was kicked out of England, and I ended up in Egypt ... I had to be an American cheerleader [in a boxing film]. I was sitting on my bum for six hours. In the end I walked out because the director screamed at me."

Cate Blanchett studied at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art and then took the lead in Electra. Other significant stage roles followed including David Mamet's Oleanna, for which she won the Sydney Theatre Critics' Best Newcomer Award.

In 1997 Cate Blanchett moved into films playing army nurse Susan Macarthy in Bruce Beresford's Paradise Road.

Another early film was Thank God He Met Lizzie, where she met her husband-to-be, Andrew Upton.

Another significant role for Cate Blanchett was as Lucinda Leplastrier in Oscar and Lucinda.

Cate Blanchett followed up with the role of the Virgin Queen in Elizabeth, for which she was Oscar nominated.

Other credits include An Ideal Husband, Pushing Tin, The Talented Mr Ripley, the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and her role as Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, for which she won the Oscar for best supporting actress.

In 2008 Cate Blanchett became artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company, but 2007 saw a number of film releases with Cate Blanchett credits.

The Observer has good descriptions of Cate Blanchett's 2007 credits: Babel, Notes on a Scandal, The Good German, the sequel to Elizabeth, and an interpretation of Bob Dylan's character in I'm Not There.

In 2007, Blanchett was named best actress at the Venice Film Festival for her role in Bob Dylan, I'm Not There.

In January 2008, Cate Blanchett added a best supporting actress in a film Golden Globe, again for her role in I'm Not There.

Back in 2004, the BBC had a good quote from Cate Blanchett:

"I'm quite urban. I don't like to be too far away from an espresso machine."

In 2008, Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for her role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and for best supporting actress for her role in I'm Not There.

In April 2008, Cate Blanchett and her husband, writer Andrew Upton, had their third child, Ignatius Martin Upton.

In 2008, Cate Blanchett played a Russian military scientist in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

On 2 September 2009, the BBC reported that Cate Blanchett had suffered a minor injury during a live performance of A Streetcar Named Desire in Sydney.

In 2010, Cate Blanchett starred alongside Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood.

In 2012, Cate Blanchett won plaudits for her role as Lotte in Big And Small, performed at The Barbican in London.

In 2013, she was cast in the title role of Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, for which she won an Oscar.

In 2014, Blanchett appeared in The Monuments Men, which also featured George Clooney, Matt Damon and Bill Murray.

In 2016, Cate Blanchett was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for her role in Carol.

In 2017 she was cast as Margo Channing in the London stage adaptation of All About Eve.

In 2018, she became the chair of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2019, Cate Blanchett made her National Theatre debut appearing in When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other.

In 2020, she was cast in Nightmare Alley, a thriller co-starring Bradley Cooper.

In 2022, she was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and won a Bafta for best actress for Tár.

In 2024, she starred in The New Boy.

In August 2024, it was revealed that Cate Blanchett would appear on stage for the first time in six years, with a role in Chekhov's The Seagull at the Barbican Theatre.