Cate Blanchett facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cate Blanchett
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Blanchett at the 2024 Venice Film Festival
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Catherine Élise Blanchett
14 May 1969 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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| Years active | 1990–present |
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Full list |
| Board member of | Sydney Theatre Company |
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| Children | 4 |
| Awards | Full list |
Catherine Élise Blanchett (born 14 May 1969) is a famous Australian actor and producer. She is known for her amazing ability to play many different kinds of characters on stage and in movies. Cate Blanchett has won many important awards, including two Academy Awards (also known as Oscars), four British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), four Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has also been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.
Cate Blanchett studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia. She started her acting career on the Australian stage in 1992 and made her first movie in 1997. She became famous around the world for playing Queen Elizabeth I in the historical movie Elizabeth (1998). This role earned her her first Oscar nomination. She won an Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004). She won another Oscar for her role in the movie Blue Jasmine (2013). She has been nominated for more Oscars than any other Australian actor. Some of her most successful movies include The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Cinderella (2015), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
Cate Blanchett has also performed in more than twenty stage plays. She and her husband, Andrew Upton, were the artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 to 2013. She made her Broadway debut in 2017 in the play The Present, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. She also starred in the TV miniseries Mrs. America (2020) and Disclaimer (2024), both of which earned her Emmy nominations.
Blanchett has received several special awards. The Australian government gave her the Centenary Medal in 2001, and she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2017. In 2012, the French government honored her with the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award. She was also recognized by the Museum of Modern Art and received the British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007. She has also received honorary degrees from several universities in Australia.
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Early Life and Education
Catherine Élise Blanchett was born on 14 May 1969 in Melbourne, Australia. Her mother, June, was a teacher, and her father, Robert, was an advertising executive from the United States. They met when her father's ship had problems in Melbourne. When Cate was ten years old, her father passed away from a heart attack. Her mother then raised Cate and her two siblings. Cate is the middle child, with an older brother and a younger sister. Her family background includes English, Scottish, and some French roots.
Cate Blanchett has said that as a child, she was a mix of being outgoing and shy. When she was a teenager, she liked to experiment with her style, including shaving her head. She went to Ivanhoe East Primary School and then to Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School and Methodist Ladies' College for high school. There, she discovered her love for acting. Before going to college, she worked at a nursing home. She started studying business at the University of Melbourne. While traveling in Egypt, she was asked to be an extra in a movie called Kaboria (1990). She took the job because she needed money. When she returned to Australia, she moved to Sydney and enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where she graduated in 1992 with a degree in Fine Arts.
Acting Career
Early Roles and International Fame
Cate Blanchett's first stage role was in 1992 in the play Oleanna for the Sydney Theatre Company. That same year, she also played Clytemnestra in a play called Sophocles' Electra. Her performance as Electra was highly praised. In 1993, she won two awards from the Sydney Theatre Critics for her roles in Kafka Dances and Oleanna. She was the first actor to win both awards in the same year. From 1994 to 1995, she played Ophelia in a production of Hamlet.
Blanchett's first TV appearance was in the 1994 miniseries Heartland. She also appeared in other TV shows like Bordertown (1995) and Police Rescue. Her first feature film role was in 1997 in Paradise Road, where she played an Australian nurse during World War II. Later that year, she got her first main role in the romantic drama Oscar and Lucinda. Critics praised her performance, and she was nominated for an AFI Award. She won the AFI Best Actress Award for her role in the romantic comedy Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997).
In 1998, Blanchett starred as a young Elizabeth I in the historical drama Elizabeth. This movie made her famous worldwide. She won a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA, and was nominated for her first Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Academy Award for Best Actress. Critics loved her performance, saying she brought spirit and intelligence to the role of the queen.
The next year, Blanchett appeared in the short film Bangers (1999), which her husband, Andrew Upton, wrote and directed. She also appeared in the comedy Pushing Tin (1999) and the successful film The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), alongside Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. She received another BAFTA nomination for her role in The Talented Mr. Ripley.
The Lord of the Rings and More Success
From 2001 to 2003, Blanchett played the elf leader Galadriel in Peter Jackson's popular trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. These movies were very successful and earned billions of dollars worldwide. In 2001, Blanchett also took on different roles in dramas like Charlotte Gray and The Shipping News, and the comedy Bandits, for which she received more award nominations. Bandits was her first big role in a comedy, and critics praised her performance.
In 2002, Blanchett starred in Heaven. Her performance as a grieving woman was highly praised. In 2003, she continued to play a variety of roles: Galadriel in the final Lord of the Rings movie, a western thriller called The Missing, and Coffee and Cigarettes, where she played two different characters. She also starred in the biographical film Veronica Guerin. In 2004, Blanchett appeared in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Blanchett won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2005, for her role as Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004). This made her the first actor to win an Oscar for playing another Oscar-winning actor. Critics praised her lively and touching portrayal of Hepburn. To prepare for the role, Blanchett watched many of Hepburn's early films to study her movements and speech. That year, Blanchett also won the Australian Film Institute Best Actress Award for her role in the Australian film Little Fish (2005).
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In 2006, Blanchett performed in the play Hedda Gabler. She then starred with Brad Pitt in Babel, a drama about a grieving couple caught in an international incident. Babel received seven Oscar nominations. She also appeared in The Good German with George Clooney, and the thriller Notes on a Scandal with Dame Judi Dench. Blanchett received her third Oscar nomination for her role in Notes on a Scandal.
In 2007, Time magazine named Blanchett one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. She also had a small, uncredited role in the action comedy film Hot Fuzz (2007), donating her fee to charity. She played Queen Elizabeth I again in the 2007 sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age and played Jude Quinn, one of six versions of Bob Dylan, in the film I'm Not There. She won several awards for her role as Jude Quinn. At the 80th Academy Awards, Blanchett received two nominations – Best Actress for Elizabeth: the Golden Age and Best Supporting Actress for I'm Not There. This made her the first actress to be nominated twice for playing the same role in two different films.
Directing the Sydney Theatre Company
Blanchett appeared in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), playing the villainous KGB agent Col. Dr. Irina Spalko. The movie was a big box office success. In David Fincher's Oscar-nominated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, she starred with Brad Pitt again. In the same year, Blanchett voiced the character of Granmamare for the English version of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo.
Also in 2008, Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton became co-CEOs and artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. Blanchett returned to acting in the theater in 2009 in the play A Streetcar Named Desire. She played Blanche DuBois. The play was very successful, and Blanchett received great praise for her performance. She won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress.
In 2010, Blanchett starred as Lady Marion opposite Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. The film was a financial success. In 2011, she played the villainous CIA agent Marissa Wiegler in the action thriller Hanna.
In 2011, Blanchett also performed in two other Sydney Theatre Company plays: Groß und klein (Big and Small) and Uncle Vanya. Both productions and Blanchett's performances received wide acclaim. She won several awards for these roles, including the Helpmann Award for Best Actress.
Blue Jasmine and Hollywood Success
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Blanchett played Galadriel again in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy (2012–2014), which are prequels to The Lord of the Rings. These films were also very successful at the box office. She voiced the character of "Penelope" in an episode of Family Guy in 2012, and Queen Elizabeth II in another episode. Blanchett returned to Australian film in The Turning (2013). The 2013 season was Blanchett's last as co-CEO and artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company.
In 2013, Blanchett played the main role of Jasmine Francis in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. Her performance was highly praised, with many critics calling it one of the best of her career. She won more than 40 awards for this role, including the Oscar for Best Actress. This made Blanchett one of only a few actresses to win an Oscar in both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. She was also the first Australian to win more than one acting Oscar.
In 2014, Blanchett co-starred with Matt Damon and George Clooney in The Monuments Men, a film based on the true story of art historians who saved famous artworks stolen by Nazis during World War II. Blanchett's character, Claire Simone, was inspired by the French heroine Rose Valland. That year, Blanchett also voiced Valka in the animated film How to Train Your Dragon 2, which was very successful and won a Golden Globe Award. She also guest starred on the Australian show Rake.
In 2015, Blanchett starred in five films. She played Nancy in Terrence Malick's Knight Of Cups. She also starred as the villainous Lady Tremaine in Disney's live-action movie Cinderella, receiving critical acclaim for her performance. She then starred with Rooney Mara in Carol, a film that reunited her with director Todd Haynes. Blanchett, who also helped produce the film, received rave reviews for her performance as the main character. For Carol, Blanchett received more Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award nominations.
Blanchett played Mary Mapes in Truth (2015), a film about a news controversy. Her production company also helped produce this film. She then starred in Manifesto, a video art project where she played 13 different characters. In 2016, Blanchett narrated one version of Terence Malick's documentary Voyage of Time.
Broadway Debut and TV Success
Blanchett starred in the play The Present in Sydney in 2015, which later moved to Broadway in 2017. This was Blanchett's Broadway debut. Her performance was highly praised, and she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. In 2017, Blanchett also appeared in Terrence Malick's Song to Song and played the goddess of death Hela in the Marvel Studios film Thor: Ragnarok. Thor: Ragnarok was a big success.
In 2018, Blanchett starred in Ocean's 8, an all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Eleven movies, alongside Sandra Bullock and Anne Hathaway. The film was a box office success. She also played Florence Zimmerman in The House with a Clock in Its Walls and narrated the Australian film Sweet Tooth. Blanchett was the president of the jury for the 71st Cannes Film Festival in May 2018.
Blanchett voiced a female version of the python Kaa in Andy Serkis's film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018), which was released on Netflix in 2019. In the same year, Blanchett starred in Where'd You Go, Bernadette, based on the popular book. Her performance in this film was praised. She also voiced Valka again in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards.
In 2020, Blanchett's production company, Dirty Films, signed deals for movies and TV shows. Blanchett returned to television in two miniseries. She had a supporting role in the Australian drama series Stateless, which she also helped create and produce. The series was inspired by her work with refugees. Stateless aired in Australia and internationally on Netflix. Blanchett won two awards for Stateless: Best Guest or Supporting Actress and Best Mini-Series.
Blanchett also starred in and produced the historical drama miniseries Mrs. America (2020), playing conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. The series received widespread critical acclaim, and Blanchett's performance was highly praised. She received nominations for several awards, including the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Blanchett also helped produce the Greek film Apples (2020).
Recent Work and Continued Acclaim
In 2021, Blanchett starred with Bradley Cooper in Guillermo del Toro's film Nightmare Alley, which received positive reviews. She also acted alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio in Adam McKay's comedy Don't Look Up for Netflix. Both Nightmare Alley and Don't Look Up were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. With these nominations, Blanchett set a new record for the female actor with the most credited roles in Best Picture nominees.
Blanchett then starred in the 2022 film Tár, directed by Todd Field. Her performance as Lydia Tár, a famous conductor, received widespread critical acclaim. Critics called it an "astonishing performance" and another "career peak" for Blanchett. For this role, she won her second Volpi Cup for Best Actress, fourth Golden Globe Award, and fourth BAFTA Award. She also received her eighth Oscar nomination. That year, Blanchett also voiced Spazzatura in the Netflix animated film Pinocchio.
In 2023, Blanchett co-starred in the Australian drama film The New Boy and voiced Hela again in an episode of the Marvel series What If...?. She also helped produce the film Fingernails. In 2024, Blanchett reunited with Eli Roth to play Lilith in the film Borderlands, based on the video games. She also starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries Disclaimer, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Blanchett is set to produce and star in A Manual for Cleaning Women.
In July 2024, she became an executive producer for the short film Marion. In March 2025, Blanchett will star in a new version of the play The Seagull in London. In June 2025, Blanchett made a surprise appearance in the final episode of Squid Game Season 3. She will also star in the sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang.
Activism and Causes
Environmental Work
Blanchett has been a strong supporter of protecting the environment and taking action against climate change for a long time. In 2006, she joined former US Vice-president Al Gore's Climate Project. In 2007, she became an ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation. She was made an honorary member of this foundation in 2012 for her support of environmental issues. In 2011, Blanchett supported a carbon tax in Australia. She is also a patron of SolarAid, a charity that helps provide solar lights in Africa.
From 2008 to 2011, when Blanchett and her husband led the Sydney Theatre Company, they started a big environmental program called Greening the Wharf. This program used solar energy, collected rainwater, and focused on saving energy and managing waste. The program won a Green Globe Award.
In January 2014, Blanchett participated in the Green Carpet Challenge, which promotes sustainable fashion. In September 2020, as the head of the jury for the 77th Venice International Film Festival, Blanchett promised to only wear outfits she had worn before at public events. This was to highlight the importance of sustainability in fashion. In October 2020, Prince William appointed Blanchett as a council member for the Earthshot Prize, which supports environmental pioneers. In 2022, Blanchett launched the Climate of Change podcast to discuss climate change. In 2024, Blanchett became the new ambassador for Wakehurst, a nature reserve in England.
Humanitarian Efforts
Blanchett has been working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 2015. In May 2016, she was named a global Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR. Blanchett has appeared in videos for the UNHCR to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis. These videos are part of the "WithRefugees" campaign, which asks governments to provide more shelter, job opportunities, and education for refugees.
Blanchett has visited refugee camps in Jordan (2015), Lebanon (2016), and Bangladesh (2018) to meet with and highlight the challenges faced by Syrian and Rohingya refugees. In January 2018, she received the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum for her work helping refugees. In August 2018, she spoke to the United Nations Security Council about the terrible events against the Rohingya people in Myanmar.
In July 2020, the Australian miniseries Stateless, which Blanchett co-created and produced, premiered on Netflix. The series was inspired by Blanchett's work with the UNHCR and focuses on people in an immigration detention centre in Australia. Blanchett said the show aims to "build empathy and understanding for refugees."
Blanchett also contributed an essay to Upturn: A Better Normal After COVID-19, a book published in 2020 about improving society after the pandemic. In May 2020, Blanchett was among celebrities who read parts of Roald Dahl's children's book James and the Giant Peach to help the charity Partners In Health, which was fighting COVID-19.
In September 2020, Blanchett supported students at the University for Theater and Film Arts (SZFE) in Budapest who were protesting changes by the government. She also expressed support for the people of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war and signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Personal Life
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Cate Blanchett is married to playwright and screenwriter Andrew Upton. They met in Australia in the mid-1990s and married on 21 June 1997. They have three sons and adopted a daughter in 2015. Blanchett has said that she and her husband wanted to adopt since their first son was born.
After living in Brighton, England, for almost 10 years, she and her husband moved back to Australia in 2006. Blanchett said they wanted a permanent home for their children and to be closer to her family and the Australian theater community. In 2007, they made their home in Sydney more eco-friendly. After selling it in 2015, they moved back to England and bought a house in Crowborough, East Sussex, in early 2016.
Blanchett has spoken about feminism and politics. She has also commented on the pressures women in Hollywood face, saying that she thinks less about her appearance now than she did ten years ago.
Blanchett has been a patron of the Australian Film Institute and its academy, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, since 2001. She is also a patron of the Sydney Film Festival and the Australian Pavilion in the Venice Biennale. She spoke at the state funeral of former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam in 2014.
Blanchett became a spokeswoman for SK-II, a luxury skin care brand, in 2005. In 2013, she became a brand ambassador for Giorgio Armani fragrances for women. In 2018, Armani announced she would be the first beauty ambassador for the company, representing their skincare and make-up products globally. In 2022, Louis Vuitton announced Blanchett as its new house ambassador.
Acting Achievements and Awards
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Cate Blanchett has appeared in over 70 films and more than 20 theater productions. Her films have earned over $9.8 billion worldwide. Her highest-grossing films include The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) trilogies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Cinderella (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Ocean's 8 (2018).
Among her many awards for acting, Blanchett has won two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her performance as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator made her the only actor to win an Academy Award for playing another Oscar-winning actor. Blanchett is one of only four actresses to win the Academy Award for Best Actress after winning Best Supporting Actress. She is also the only actress (and one of only six actors) in Oscar history to be nominated twice for playing the same role in two films (Elizabeth I for Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age). She is the only Australian to win two acting Oscars.
Blanchett has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for these performances:
- 71st Academy Awards (1998): Best Actress, nomination, Elizabeth
- 77th Academy Awards (2004): Best Supporting Actress, win, The Aviator
- 79th Academy Awards (2006): Best Supporting Actress, nomination, Notes on a Scandal
- 80th Academy Awards (2007): Best Actress, nomination, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
- 80th Academy Awards (2007): Best Supporting Actress, nomination, I'm Not There
- 86th Academy Awards (2013): Best Actress, win, Blue Jasmine
- 88th Academy Awards (2015): Best Actress, nomination, Carol
- 95th Academy Awards (2022): Best Actress, nomination, Tár
Blanchett received Premiere magazine's Icon Award in 2006. In 2008, she received the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Modern Master Award for her achievements in film. That year, she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She received the Women in Film and Television International's Crystal Award in 2014 for her excellence in entertainment. In 2015, Blanchett was honored at the Museum of Modern Art's Film Benefit. She also received the British Film Institute Fellowship and the AACTA Longford Lyell Award for her contributions to Australian film. In 2016, she received the Costume Designers Guild Lacoste Spotlight Award.
The Australian government awarded Blanchett the Centenary Medal in 2001. In 2012, the French Minister of Culture appointed her Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2017, Blanchett was made a Companion of the Order of Australia by the Queen for her service to the performing arts, her leadership in artistic organizations, and her support for humanitarian and environmental causes. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, and Macquarie University. In 2022, she received the Honorary César award from the French film academy.
At the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, she received the Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, which honors women who have improved conditions for women in the film industry.
See also
In Spanish: Cate Blanchett para niños
- List of Academy Award records
- List of actors nominated for multiple Academy Awards in the same year
- List of actors with two or more Academy Awards in acting categories
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories
- List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of Golden Globe winners
