Cate Blanchett

Born on: May 14, 1969

Born in: Melbourne, Australia

Nationality: Australian

Education: Graduate from National Institute of Dramatic Art, Sydney

Career: Actress and Stage Director

 

Cate Blanchett is an Australian actress, who made her debut in the acting world with theater. She is also involved in stage direction, directing her first play in 2007. Apart from winning Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, AFI Awards, SAG Awards and BAFTA Awards, she has received numerous nominations. Blanchett is best known for starring in Shekhar Kapur’s international success ‘Elizabeth’, apart from the trilogy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. In 2007, she was named as one of ‘100 Most Influential People in The World’ by Time magazine and also listed as one of the ‘Most Successful Actresses’ by Forbes magazine.

 

Cate Blanchett was born as ‘Catherine Élise Blanchett’ on 14^th May 1969, in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. She is the daughter of late Robert "Bob" Blanchett, a Texas-born United States Navy Petty Officer and advertising executive, and June, an Australian property developer and teacher. She has two siblings, Bob - a computer systems engineer and Genevieve - who worked as a theatrical designer. Tragedy struck her at a very early age, when she lost her father to a heart attack, in the year 1979.

 

As far as her primary schooling is concerned, Blanchett attended Ivanhoe East Primary School. Thereafter, she went to Methodist Ladies' College for completing her secondary education. It was here that she first noticed her passion for acting. She studied Economics and Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne. At the age of 18, she went to Egypt on a vacation and as luck would have it, got a chance to play extra in the film ‘Kaboria’. After coming back to Australia, she moved to Sydney and enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art; graduating in 1992.

 

After graduating from National Institute of Dramatic Art, Blanchett started her career in theater. Her first major stage role came in the year 1993, when she was cast opposite Geoffrey Rush in David Mamet’s play ‘Oleanna’. The play was a success and won her the ‘Sydney Theatre Critics' Best Newcomer Award’. Next, she was seen in 1994-95 Company B production of Hamlet. She was also seen in the TV mini-series ‘Heartland’, the mini-series ‘Bordertown’ and also in an episode of ‘Police Rescue’.

 

Blanchett made her debut in movies in 1994, with ‘Police Rescue: The Movie’. This was followed by ‘Parklands’ (1996). However, it was ‘Paradise Road’ that marked her international film debut, in 1997. The same year, she did her first leading role, in ‘Oscar and Lucinda’, which won her the first nomination for Australian Film Institute Award, as ‘Best Leading Actress’. She was also seen in ‘Thank God He Met Lizzie’ (1997), for which she won Australian Film Institute Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’.

 

In 1998, Blanchett did Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Elizabeth’, which is one of her most successful and renowned films till date. For the role, she was awarded with BAFTA Award as well as Golden Globe Award, apart from receiving an Academy Award nomination. The following year, she was nominated for another BAFTA Award, for her supporting role in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’. The film was followed by ‘Bangers’, ‘Pushing Tin’ and ‘An Ideal Husband’. The next year, she was seen in ‘The Gift’ and ‘The Man Who Cried’.

 

In 2001, Blanchett starred in ‘The Shipping News’, ‘Charlotte Gray’, ‘Bandits’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’. It was the last movie that again got her major recognition, for her role as the High Elf Queen Galadriel. In the next two years, she appeared in two ‘The Lord of the Rings’ sequels, completing the trilogy. In 2003, Blanchett starred in ‘Veronica Guerin’, winning a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Best Actress - Drama’. The year 2004 saw her acting in ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ and ‘The Aviator’.

 

Her role in ‘The Aviator’ got her the first Academy Award, along with a BAFTA Award and an SAG Award, for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. In 2005, she was seen in ‘Little Fish’ and ‘Babel’, with the former getting her AFI Award for Best Lead Actress and the latter winning her SAG Award nomination. Blanchett’s next major film was ‘Notes on a Scandal’, for which she received nominations for Academy Award, SAG Award and Golden Globe Award, for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. Her films in 2007 include ‘Elizabeth: The Golden Age’ and ‘I'm Not There’.

 

Elizabeth got her nominations for Academy Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award, for ‘Best Supporting Actress’. At the same time, she won Volpi Cup for Best Actress, apart from Golden Globe Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in ‘I'm Not There’. The movie also got her nominations for Academy Award, SAG Award and BAFTA Award. She made her stage direction debut in 2007, with the play ‘Blackbird’. In May 2008, Blanchett was seen in 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'.

 

Blanchett is married to Andrew Upton, playwright and screenwriter, whom she met in 1996. The couple got married in December 1997 and four years later, in December 2001, had their first child - Dashiell John. Thereafter, they had two more kids, Roman Robert in April 2004 and Ignatius Martin "Iggy" Upton in April 2008. After spending some years in England, the couple moved to Australia. Blanchett is a Patron of the Sydney Film Festival and works as the face of SK-II, the luxury skin care brand of Procter & Gamble.

 

1998 - BAFTA Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe for 'Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama' (Elizabeth)

2004 - Academy Award, BAFTA Award and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress (The Aviator)

2007 - Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress (I'm Not There)

 

 

1994 - Police Rescue: The Movie

1996 - Parklands

1997 - Oscar and Lucinda, Thank God He Met Lizzie, Paradise Road

1998 - Elizabeth

1999 - Bangers, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Pushing Tin, An Ideal Husband 

2000 - The Gift, The Man Who Cried

2001 - The Shipping News, Charlotte Gray, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Bandits

2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Heaven

2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Missing Magdalena, Coffee and Cigarettes

2004 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Aviator

2005 - Little Fish

2006 - Babel, The Good German, Notes on a Scandal
2007 - Hot Fuzz (Uncredited Cameo), Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I'm Not There