Catherine Élise Blanchett was born on 14 May 1969 in theMelbourne suburb ofIvanhoe.[5][6] Her Australian mother, June (née Gamble),[7] was a property developer and teacher; and her American father, Robert DeWitt Blanchett Jr., aTexan native, was aUnited States Navychief petty officer who became an advertising executive.[8][9][10] They met when Robert's ship broke down in Melbourne.[11] When Blanchett was ten, her father died of a heart attack, leaving her mother to raise the family.[12][13] Blanchett is the second of three children, with an older brother and younger sister.[12] Her ancestry includes English, some Scottish, and remote French roots.[13][14][15]
Blanchett has described herself as a "part extrovert, part wallflower" child.[12] During her teenage years she had a penchant for dressing in traditionally masculine clothing, and went throughgoth andpunk phases, at one point shaving her head.[12] She attended primary school in Melbourne at Ivanhoe East Primary School; for her secondary education, she attendedIvanhoe Girls' Grammar School and thenMethodist Ladies' College, where she explored her passion for the performing arts.[16] In her late teens and early twenties, she worked at anursing home in Victoria.[17] After high school, she began aBachelor of business administration at theUniversity of Melbourne. While inEgypt, Blanchett was asked to be an extra as an American cheerleader in the Egyptian boxing filmKaboria (1990); in need of money, she accepted the job.[12][18][19] On returning to Australia, she moved to Sydney and enrolled at theNational Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA),[18] graduating in 1992 with aBachelor of Fine Arts.[12]
Blanchett's first stage role was oppositeGeoffrey Rush, in the 1992David Mamet playOleanna for theSydney Theatre Company. That year, she was also cast asClytemnestra in a production ofSophocles' Electra. A couple of weeks after rehearsals, the actress playing the title role pulled out, and directorLindy Davies cast Blanchett in the role. Her performance as Electra became one of her most acclaimed at NIDA.[11] In 1993, Blanchett was awarded the Sydney Theatre Critics' Best Newcomer Award for her performance inTimothy Daly'sKafka Dances and won Best Actress for her performance in Mamet'sOleanna, making her the first actor to win both categories in the same year.[11] Blanchett played the role ofOphelia in a 1994–1995Company B production ofHamlet directed byNeil Armfield, starring Rush andRichard Roxburgh, and was nominated for aGreen Room Award.[20]
Blanchett made her feature film debut with a supporting role as an Australian nurse captured by theJapanese Army duringWorld War II, inBruce Beresford's filmParadise Road (1997), which co-starredGlenn Close andFrances McDormand.[13] The film made just over $2 million at the box office on a budget of $19 million and received mixed reviews from critics.[26][27] Her first leading role came later that year as eccentric heiress Lucinda Leplastrier inGillian Armstrong's romantic dramaOscar and Lucinda (1997), oppositeRalph Fiennes.[13] Blanchett received wide acclaim for her performance,[18] withEmanuel Levy ofVariety declaring, "luminous newcomer Blanchett, in a role originally intended forJudy Davis, is bound to become a major star".[28] She earned her first AFI Award nomination as Best Leading Actress forOscar and Lucinda.[29] She won the AFI Best Actress Award in the same year for her starring role as Lizzie in the romantic comedyThank God He Met Lizzie (1997), co-starring Richard Roxburgh andFrances O'Connor.[18]
Blanchett played a youngElizabeth I in the historical dramaElizabeth (1998), directed byShekhar Kapur. The film catapulted her to international prominence, earning her theGolden Globe Award andBritish Academy Award (BAFTA), and her firstScreen Actors Guild (SAG) andAcademy Award nomination for Best Actress.[11][20] In his review forVariety, critic David Rooney wrote of her performance, "Blanchett conveys with grace, poise and intelligence that Elizabeth was a wily, decisive, advanced thinker, far too aware of her own exceptional nature to bow to any man. [She] builds the juicy character almost imperceptibly from a smart but wary young woman who may be in over her head into a powerful creature of her own invention."[30]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times wrote that Blanchett's performance "brings spirit, beauty and substance to what otherwise might have been turned into a vacuous role",[31] and Alicia Potter writing for theBoston Phoenix stated that, "In the end, Kapur's crown jewel is a tale of twin transformations, that of Elizabeth into one of history's most enigmatic and powerful women, and that of Blanchett into, well, a bona fide screen queen."[32]
The following year, Blanchett appeared inBangers (1999), an Australian short film and part ofStories of Lost Souls, a compilation of thematically related short stories. The short was written and directed by her husband,Andrew Upton, and produced by Blanchett and Upton.[33][34] She also appeared in theMike Newell comedyPushing Tin (1999), with her performance singled out by critics,[18] and the critically acclaimed and financially successful filmThe Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), alongsideMatt Damon,Gwyneth Paltrow,Jude Law, andPhilip Seymour Hoffman. She received her second BAFTA nomination for her performance as Meredith Logue inThe Talented Mr. Ripley.[13]
2001–2007:The Lord of the Rings and established actor
Blanchett appeared inPeter Jackson'sblockbuster trilogy,The Lord of the Rings, playing the role of elf leaderGaladriel in all three films.[13] The trilogy was a major critical and financial success, earning $2.981 billion at the box office worldwide,[35][36][37] and all three films were later ranked within the top 10 greatest fantasy movies of all time in a poll conducted by American magazineWired in 2012.[38] In addition toThe Lord of the Rings, 2001 also saw Blanchett diversify her portfolio with a range of roles in the dramasCharlotte Gray andThe Shipping News and the American crime-comedyBandits, for which she earned a second Golden Globe and SAG Award nomination.[39]Bandits marked Blanchett's first notable foray into the comedy genre, with Ben Falk of theBBC declaring her and co-starBilly Bob Thornton "a real find as comedians" and calling her performance as an unsatisfied housewife caught between two escaped convicts, "unhinged, though undeniably sexy".[40]
Blanchett won her firstAcademy Award forBest Supporting Actress in 2005, for her highly acclaimed portrayal ofKatharine Hepburn inMartin Scorsese'sThe Aviator (2004).[46] This made Blanchett the first actor in history to win an Academy Award for portraying another Academy Award-winning actor.[47] She lent her Oscar statuette to theAustralian Centre for the Moving Image.[48] In his review forNewsweek, David Ansen wrote that Blanchett portrayed Hepburn with "lip-smacking vivacity",[49] andRoger Ebert lauded the performance, describing it as "delightful and yet touching; mannered and tomboyish".[50] During her preparation for the role, and at the request of Scorsese, Blanchett reviewed 35-millimetre prints of all of Hepburn's first 15 screen performances to study and memorise her poise, mannerisms and speech pattern.[51] Blanchett spoke of the responsibility of portraying such an iconic star, stating, "Representing Kate in the same medium, film, in which she existed was very daunting. But because she was so private and few people really knew her, we basically know Hepburn through her films. So of course you have to give a nod to her screen persona when playing her."[51] That year, Blanchett also won theAustralian Film Institute Best Actress Award for her performance as Tracy Heart, a former heroin addict, in the Australian filmLittle Fish (2005), co-produced by her and her husband's production company, Dirty Films.[33] Though lesser known globally than some of her other films, the sober and sensitive[52]Little Fish received great critical acclaim in Blanchett's native Australia and was nominated for 13 Australian Film Institute awards.[53][54]
In 2006, Blanchett portrayed Hedda Gabler at theBrooklyn Academy of Music in the Sydney Theatre Company production ofHedda Gabler, directed byRobyn Nevin.[55] She then starred oppositeBrad Pitt inAlejandro González Iñárritu's multi-lingual,multi-narrative dramaBabel, as one half of a grieving couple who get caught up in an international incident inMorocco.Babel received seven Academy Award nominations.[56] She also co-starred inSteven Soderbergh'sWorld War II-era dramaThe Good German withGeorge Clooney, and the psychological thrillerNotes on a Scandal oppositeDame Judi Dench.[18][20] Blanchett received a third Academy Award nomination for her performance in the latter film,[57] where she portrays a lonely teacher who embarks on an affair with a 15-year-old student and becomes the object of obsession for an older woman played by Dench. Both Blanchett's and Dench's performances were highly acclaimed, withPeter Bradshaw writing inThe Guardian, "DirectorRichard Eyre, with unshowy authority, gets the best out of Dench and Blanchett and, with great shrewdness, elicits from these two actors all the little tensions and exasperations - as well as the genuine tenderness - in their tragically fraught relationship."[58]
A Streetcar Named Desire production travelled from Sydney to theBrooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and theKennedy Center in Washington, D.C.[74][75] It was a critical and commercial success and Blanchett received acclaim for her performance as Blanche DuBois.[79]The New York Times criticBen Brantley said, "Ms. Ullmann and Ms. Blanchett have performed the play as if it had never been staged before, with the result that, as a friend of mine put it, 'you feel like you're hearing words you thought you knew pronounced correctly for the first time.'"[80]John Lahr ofThe New Yorker wrote of her portrayal, "with her alert mind, her informed heart, and her lithe, patrician silhouette, [Blanchett] gets it right from the first beat ... I don't expect to see a better performance of this role in my lifetime."[81]Jane Fonda, who attended a New York show, deemed it "perhaps the greatest stage performance I have ever seen",[82] andMeryl Streep declared, "That performance was as naked, as raw and extraordinary and astonishing and surprising and scary as anything I've ever seen ... I thought I'd seen that play, I thought I knew all the lines by heart, because I've seen it so many times, but I'd never seen the play until I saw that performance."[83] Blanchett won theSydney Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.[84] The production and Blanchett receivedHelen Hayes Awards, for Outstanding Non-Resident Production and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production award, respectively.[85]
In 2011, Blanchett took part in two Sydney Theatre Company productions. She played Lotte Kotte in a new translation ofBotho Strauß's 1978 playGroß und klein (Big and Small) fromMartin Crimp, directed byBenedict Andrews.[89] After its Sydney run, the production travelled to London, Paris, theVienna Festival andRuhrfestspiele.[10] Blanchett and the production received wide acclaim.[95] Blanchett was nominated for theEvening Standard Theatre Awards for Best Actress,[96] and won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role[97] and theHelpmann Award for Best Actress.[98] She then played Yelena, oppositeHugo Weaving andRichard Roxburgh, in Andrew Upton's adaptation ofAnton Chekhov'sUncle Vanya, which travelled to the Kennedy Center and theNew York City Center as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.[99] The production and Blanchett received critical acclaim,[102] withThe New York Times' Ben Brantley declaring, "I consider the three hours I spent on Saturday night watching [the characters] complain about how bored they are among the happiest of my theatregoing life ... This Uncle Vanya gets under your skin like no other I have seen ... [Blanchett] confirms her status as one of the best and bravest actresses on the planet."[103]The Washington Post's Peter Marks dubbed the production Washington, D.C.'s top theatrical event of 2011.[7] Blanchett received theHelen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production, and the Helpmann Award for Best Actress.[98][104]
2012–2016:Blue Jasmine and resurgence in Hollywood
Blanchett reprised her role as Galadriel in Peter Jackson's adaptations ofThe Hobbit (2012–2014), prequel toThe Lord of the Rings series, filmed in New Zealand.[105] While less critically acclaimed thanThe Lord of the Rings trilogy,The Hobbit trilogy was nonetheless a major box office success, earning nearly $3 billion worldwide.[106][107][108] The character of Galadriel does not appear inJ.R.R. Tolkien's original novel, but the story was amended by co-writerGuillermo del Toro and director Peter Jackson so that Blanchett could appear in the film trilogy.[109] She voiced the role of "Penelope" in theFamily Guy episode "Mr. and Mrs. Stewie", which aired on 29 April 2012, and QueenElizabeth II in the episode "Family Guy Viewer Mail 2".[110][111] Blanchett returned to Australian film with her appearance inThe Turning (2013), ananthology film based on a collection ofshort stories byTim Winton.[112] She was head of jury of the 2012 and 2013Dubai International Film Festival.[113] The Sydney Theatre Company's 2013 season was Blanchett's final one as co-CEO and artistic director.[70][114]
In 2013, Blanchett played Jasmine Francis, the lead role inWoody Allen'sBlue Jasmine, co-starringAlec Baldwin andSally Hawkins. Her performance garnered widespread acclaim, with some critics considering it to be the finest of her career to that point (surpassing her performance inElizabeth).[115] In his review forThe Guardian,Mark Kermode proclaimed, "Blanchett takes on the challenge like a peak-fitness runner facing a marathon, ploughing her way through 26 miles of emotional road pounding, with all the ups and downs, strains and tears, stomach turns and heartburns that that entails, a feat that occasionally leaves her (and us) gasping for breath."[116]Peter Travers, reviewing the film forRolling Stone, called Blanchett's performance, "miraculous", and went on to write, "The sight of Jasmine – lost, alone and unable to conjure magic out of unyielding reality – is devastating. This is Blanchett triumphant, and not to be missed."[117] The performance won her more than 40 industry and critics' awards, including theLAFCA Award,NYFCC Award,NSFC Award, Critics' Choice Award,Santa Barbara International Film Festival Outstanding Performance of the Year Award, SAG Award, Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award, Independent Film Spirit Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress.[118] Blanchett's win made her just the sixth actress to win an Oscar in both of the acting categories, the third to win Best Actress after Best Supporting Actress, and the first Australian to win more than one acting Oscar.[119][120][121]
Allen's adopted daughterDylan Farrow has since criticised Blanchett and other actresses for working with Allen.[122][123] Blanchett responded, "It's obviously been a long and painful situation for the family and I hope they find some resolution and peace."[124] On the subject of theMe Too movement, Blanchett said she thinks that "social media is fantastic about raising awareness about issues, but it's not the judge and jury" and the cases "need to go into court, so if these abuses have happened, the person is prosecuted, so someone, who is not in the shiny industry that I am, can use that legal precedent to protect themselves. Always, in my industry or any other industry, they're preyed upon because they're vulnerable."[125][126]
In 2015, Blanchett starred in five films. She portrayed Nancy inTerrence Malick'sKnight Of Cups, which premiered at theBerlin International Film Festival.[136]IndieWire named Blanchett's performance inKnight of Cups one of the 15 best performances in Terrence Malick films.[137] She starred as the villainousLady Tremaine in Disney'sKenneth Branagh-directedlive-action adaptation ofCinderella, to critical acclaim.[138][139] Writing forTime magazine,Richard Corliss declared that "Blanchett [earns top billing], radiating a hauteur that chills as it amuses; the performance is grand without skirting parody."[140] She then starred oppositeRooney Mara inCarol, the film adaptation ofPatricia Highsmith'sThe Price of Salt, reuniting her with directorTodd Haynes. Blanchett, who also served as an executive producer of the film, drew rave reviews for her performance as the titular character, which was widely cited as one of the best of her career, alongsideElizabeth andBlue Jasmine.Justin Chang ofVariety proclaimed, "As a study in the way beautiful surfaces can simultaneously conceal and expose deeper meanings, [Blanchett's] performance represents an all-too-fitting centerpiece for this magnificently realized movie."[141][142] ForCarol, Blanchett received again Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award nominations.[143][144][145]
Blanchett portrayedMary Mapes oppositeRobert Redford'sDan Rather inTruth (2015), a film about theKillian documents controversy. Blanchett's production company was a producing partner for the film.[146] She then starred inManifesto,Julian Rosefeldt's multi-screen video installation, in which 12 artist manifestos are depicted by 13 different characters all played by Blanchett.[147] The project, and Blanchett, received critical acclaim,[148] with Roberta Smith ofThe New York Times stating: "If the art world gave out Oscars, Cate Blanchett should win for her tour de force of starring roles in 'Manifesto'".[149] In 2016, Blanchett narrated one of two versions of Terence Malick's documentary on Earth and the universe,Voyage of Time, which had its world premiere at the73rd Venice Film Festival.[150][151][152]
Blanchett starred in the Sydney Theatre Company playThe Present,Andrew Upton's adaption ofAnton Chekhov's playPlatonov, directed byJohn Crowley.[153] The production debuted in Sydney in 2015, to critical acclaim, and transferred toBroadway in 2017,[154][155] marking Blanchett's Broadway debut.[156] Blanchett's performance during the play's Broadway run received acclaim. Ben Brantley ofThe New York Times remarked that "Blanchett knows how to hold a stage and, if necessary, hijack it ... Such commanding, try-anything charisma is useful if you're attempting to hold together a badly assembled party or, for that matter, play."[157][158] For her work, Blanchett received aTony Award nomination forBest Actress in a Play,[159] aDrama Desk Award nomination,[160] and aDrama League Award nomination for the Distinguished Performance Award.[161] In 2017, Blanchett also appeared in Terrence Malick'sSong to Song, shot back-to-back withKnight of Cups in 2012,[162] and portrayed the goddess of deathHela in theMarvel Studios filmThor: Ragnarok, directed byTaika Waititi.[163]Thor: Ragnarok was both a critical and financial success, earning $854 million at the worldwide box office.[164]
Blanchett portrayed a female version of the pythonKaa inAndy Serkis' adaptation ofThe Jungle Book titledMowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018). Serkis utilised a mixture ofmotion capture,CG animation and live-action in the film, and the role of Kaa was written to be much closer to the original character in the short stories by the authorRudyard Kipling, which is as a mentor-like figure forMowgli.[173] The film was released onNetflix in 2019.[174] In the same year, Blanchett starred inWhere'd You Go, Bernadette, an adaptation of the best-selling bookof the same name, which was directed byRichard Linklater.[175] The film received mostly mixed reviews and made $10.4 million at the box office against a budget of $18 million,[176][177] but Blanchett's performance as the titular character received praise, with Pete Hammond writing in his review forDeadline, "[The film] doesn't quite measure up to expectations, despite a game performance from the incandescent Cate Blanchett, who clearly is the best reason to see this movie."[178] She received her tenth Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the film.[179] Also that year, she reprised her role as Valka inHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which was nominated forBest Animated Feature at the92nd Academy Awards.[180][181]
In 2021, Blanchett starred alongsideBradley Cooper inGuillermo del Toro'sfilm adaptation ofNightmare Alley, which was released to positive reviews.[201][202] David Ehrlich ofIndieWire praised the chemistry between the two leads writing, "It's such a thrill to watch Blanchett spar with Cooper".[203] The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture.[204] She also acted alongsideJennifer Lawrence andLeonardo DiCaprio inAdam McKay'sDon't Look Up, an apocalyptic political satireblack comedy film forNetflix.[205] Pete Hammond ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Blanchett is having a ball as your typical entertainment-oriented blonde anchorwoman".[206] The film also received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.[204] WithNightmare Alley andDon't Look Up's Best Picture Oscar nominations, Blanchett broke the record held by actressOlivia de Havilland of being the female actor with the most credited roles in Best Picture nominees.[207]
Blanchett then starred in the 2022 filmTár, directed byTodd Field. Her performance as Lydia Tár, a fictional renowned conductor, received widespread critical acclaim.[208]The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney wrote that Blanchett gives an "astonishing performance — flinty, commandingly self-possessed and ever so slowly splintering under pressure", adding that it "marks yet another career peak for Blanchett – many are likely to argue her greatest".[209] For her performance, she won her second Volpi Cup for Best Actress, fourth Golden Globe Award, and fourth BAFTA Award.[210][211][212] She also swept the major critics awards trifecta (NYFCC,LAFCA,NSFC) for the second time and went on to receive her eighth Oscar nomination, tying for the fourth most Oscar-nominated actress.[213][214] That year, Blanchett also voiced Spazzatura in the Netflix film adaptationPinocchio, reuniting her with del Toro.[215]
In June 2025, Blanchett made a surprise cameo appearance in the final episode ofSquid Game Season 3.[228] She will next star in the sci-fi comedyAlpha Gang.[229]
Blanchett at the 2012Tropfest in Sydney, Australia
Blanchett is regarded as one of the finest and most versatile actors of her generation.[244] She is noted for her ability to play characters from many different walks of life, and for headlining and being an ensemble player in a wide range of film genres and production scales, from low-budget independent films to high-profile blockbusters.[248] She has also been praised for her mastery over a wide array of diverse accents, including English, Irish, French, and various regional American accents.[250] In a 2022 readers' poll byEmpire magazine, Blanchett was voted one of the 50 greatest actors of all time.[251]
Commenting on her appeal as a screen actor inVulture,Will Leitch and Tim Grierson stated that her greatest skill was "her ability to combine relatability and elusiveness: She is always completely present and yet just out of grasp. She has been forever daring, uncompromising and perpetually, resolutely, herself."[245] Blanchett's performance in the filmCarol was ranked as the 2nd best movie performance of the decade byIndieWire in 2019. Writing of her performance in the film, Christian Zilko states, "The greatest performance in a career where almost every role feels like a legitimate contender, Cate Blanchett's take on Carol Aird is a veritable symphony of repressive silence."[252]
Blanchett has been cited in the press as being a style icon and has frequently topped lists of the best dressed women in the world.[253][254][255] In 2004, Blanchett was named the third most naturally beautiful woman of all time by a panel of beauty and fashion editors, make-up artists, model agencies and photographers, behindAudrey Hepburn andLiv Tyler.[256] She was inEmpire's list of the "100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All-Time" in 2007 and 2013.[257][258] In 2022, she was named inThe Hollywood Reporter's listing of "Women in Entertainment Power 100".[259]
In 2006, a portrait of Blanchett and her family painted byMcLean Edwards was a finalist for theArt Gallery of New South Wales'Archibald Prize.[260] Another portrait of Blanchett was a finalist for the Archibald Prize in 2014.[261] Blanchett appeared in a series ofcommemorative postage stamps calledAustralian Legends in 2009, in recognition of the outstanding contribution made to Australian entertainment and culture.[262] In 2015,Madame Tussauds Hollywood unveiled a wax statue of Blanchett draped in a recreation of theyellow Valentino dress she wore to the77th Academy Awards in 2005.[263] In 2019, Blanchett was among the "10 inspirational women honored with a larger-than-life bronze sculpture" as part of the Statues for Equality project, which "aims to balance gender representation in public art and honor women's contributions to society". The bronze statues were unveiled on Women's Equality Day: 26 August 2019 on Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Blanchett's statue is "a creation based on a single image from the 2003 photoshoot by Matt Jones for Movieline's Hollywood Life magazine."[264][265]
Blanchett has been a long term proponent ofindividual and collective action on climate change and other environmental issues. In 2006, she joined former US Vice-presidentAl Gore's Climate Project.[266][267] In 2007, Blanchett became the ambassador for theAustralian Conservation Foundation.[268][269] She was made an honorary life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2012, in recognition of her support for environmental issues.[266] At the beginning of 2011, Blanchett lent her support for acarbon tax.[270] She received some criticism for this, particularly from conservatives.[271][272] Blanchett is a patron of the international development charitySolarAid, which works to create a sustainable market for solar lights in Africa.[273]
From 2008 to 2011, theSydney Theatre Company under the leadership of Blanchett and her husbandAndrew Upton, initiated a comprehensive large scale environmental program calledGreening the Wharf, which invested insolar energy,rainwater harvesting, energy efficiency measures and best practice waste management.[274] The program won a Green Globe Award which was accepted by Blanchett and Upton.[275]
In January 2014, Blanchett took part in the Green Carpet Challenge, an initiative to raise the public profile ofsustainable fashion, founded by Livia Firth of Eco-Age.[276][277] In September 2020, as part of her role as Jury President of the77th Venice International Film Festival, she vowed that during the festival she would only wear outfits that she had previously worn at public events in an effort to highlight the issue of sustainability in the fashion industry.[278] In October of the same year, Blanchett was appointed byPrince William as a council member for theEarthshot Prize, which provides 50 environmental pioneers with the funds needed to further their work in tackling major problems impacting the environment.[279] In 2022, Blanchett and environmental activistDanny Kennedy launched theClimate of Change podcast onAudible to discuss climate change and the importance of preserving the environment.[280][281] In 2024, Blanchett was announced as the new ambassador ofWakehurst, a nature reserve in England.[282] The following year, she hosted a series of theUnearthed: The Need for Seeds podcast byRoyal Botanic Gardens Kew, covering the history of theMillennium Seed Bank at the site.[283]
Theecohouse that Blanchett and Upton are having built inMawgan Porth,Cornwall, on the site of a stone cottage they bought for £1.6 million and then demolished,[284] has been the subject of controversy, as the noise from its construction is alleged to have "destroyed the family holidays" of a number of people in 2023.[285] The couple's application to build an extension and space for parking had been described by a local resident as a "blatant attempt to erode an environmentally important piece of land by stealth and incorporate it".[285] The architects developing the site denied that anyone has been inconvenienced by the noise.[285]
Like you, I have heard the gut-wrenching accounts. Stories of grave torture, of women brutally violated, people who have had their loved ones killed before their eyes. Children who have seen their grandparents locked in houses that were set alight.
I am a mother, and I saw my children in the eyes of every single refugee child I met. I saw myself in every parent. How can any mother endure seeing her child thrown into a fire?
Blanchett has been working with theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 2015. In May 2016, the UNHCR announced her appointment as a global Goodwill Ambassador.[287] Blanchett, along with other celebrities, featured in a video from the UNHCR to help raise awareness to the global refugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's "WithRefugees" campaign, which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities, and education.[288][289]
Blanchett has undertaken missions with the UNHCR toJordan in 2015,Lebanon in 2016 andBangladesh in 2018 to meet with and highlight the issues faced by bothSyrian andRohingya refugees in those areas.[290] In January 2018, she was awarded the Crystal Award at theWorld Economic Forum to honour her advocacy for refugees and displaced people around the world,[291] and in August 2018, she addressed theUnited Nations Security Council about the atrocities committed against theRohingya people inMyanmar.[292]
In July 2020, the Australian miniseriesStateless, which was co-created and produced by Blanchett (and originally aired on theABC network in Australia), premiered onNetflix. The series was inspired by Blanchett's work with the UNHCR and focuses on four strangers whose lives collide at animmigration detention centre in Australia. In Blanchett's words, the show's aim is to "build empathy and understanding for refugees, particularly those who have been and still are in detention."[293]
As an esteemed member of the performing arts community that was seriouslyimpacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a person concerned about environmental and humanitarian issues, Blanchett contributed an essay toUpturn: A Better Normal After COVID-19, a book published in 2020 about what could be done to improve society after the pandemic in her native Australia.[294][295] Blanchett said:
We engage with the performance of the gesture and the whole of it is greater than the sum of its parts. I think this need to gather is fundamental to who we are, and it has been stymied by Covid-19 but also underlined by it, and that need in us for community addresses the difficult lesson we have to learn: business is not government and government is not a business.[295]
In May 2020, Blanchett was among the celebrities who read an installment ofRoald Dahl's children's fantasy novelJames and the Giant Peach in aid of the global-non profit charityPartners In Health, co-founded by Dahl's daughterOphelia, which had been fighting COVID-19 in vulnerable areas.[296]
In September 2020, Blanchett,Helen Mirren,Eddie Redmayne,Salman Rushdie and other figures of British cultural life support the protests ofUniversity for Theater and Film Arts (SZFE) students in Budapest against changes ushered Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government that forced a transfer of control of the public institution to a private foundation and a new structure to guide key decisions at the storied SZFE.[297][298]
She expressed solidarity with the people of theGaza Strip during theGaza war. As part of a group calledArtists4Ceasefire, she signed a letter urging PresidentJoe Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.[299]
Blanchett is married to playwright and screenwriterAndrew Upton. They met in Australia in the mid-1990s and married on 21 June, 1997.[304] They have three sons,[305][306][307] and a daughter, who was adopted in 2015.[308][309] Blanchett said that she and her husband had wanted to adopt since the birth of their first son.[310]
After makingBrighton, England their main home for nearly 10 years, she and her husband returned to their native Australia in 2006.[311][312] Blanchett attributed the move to their desire to select a permanent home for her children, to be closer to her family, and to have a sense of belonging to the Australian theatrical community.[313] In 2007, she and her family extensively renovated their home in the Sydney suburb ofHunters Hill to be moreeco-friendly.[314][315] Following its sale in 2015, she and Upton relocated back to England and purchased a house inCrowborough,East Sussex, in early 2016.[316]
Blanchett has spoken aboutfeminism and politics, tellingSky News in 2013 that she was concerned that "a wave ofconservatism sweeping the globe" was threatening women's role in society.[317] She has also commented on the pressures women in Hollywood face now: "Honestly, I think about my appearance less than I did ten years ago. People talk about thegolden age of Hollywood because of how women were lit then. You could beJoan Crawford andBette Davis and work well into your 50s, because you were lit and made into a goddess. Now, with everything being sort of gritty, women have this sense of their use-by date."[318]
Blanchett became a spokeswoman for and the face ofSK-II, the luxury skin care brand owned byProcter & Gamble, in 2005,[323][324] and brand ambassador forGiorgio Armani fragrances for women in 2013, being paid $10 million for the latter.[325] In 2018, Armani announced Blanchett would become the first beauty ambassador for the company, representing it globally by absorbing responsibilities for skincare and make-up, in addition to her previous 2013 commitments to fragrances.[326][327] In 2022,Louis Vuitton announced Blanchett as its new house ambassador.[328]
^"The 76th Academy Awards | 2004".Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 4 October 2014.Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved9 December 2020.
Elliott, Peter; Manning, Ned; Saltau, Margaret; Surbey, Elizabeth (2011). "The Dramatic Life: Cate Blanchett".Drama Reloaded. Cambridge University Press. pp. 173,185–186.ISBN978-0521183123.
Canadian Film Awards 1968–1978,Genie Awards 1980-2011,Canadian Screen Awards 2012–present. Separate awards were presented by gender prior to 2022; a single unified category for best performance regardless of gender has been presented since.
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped_2).jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
