Cate Blanchett was born in Australia to an American father and an Australian mother. She has an older brother and an younger sister. When she was ten years old, her 40-year old father died of a sudden heart attack. Her mother never remarried, and her grandmother moved in to help her mother.
Cate graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim.
On graduating from
NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls", then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Daly's
"Kafka Dances", winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre
Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the
role of Carol in David Mamet's
searing polemic "Oleanna", also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won
the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then
co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama Heartland
(1994), again winning critical acclaim.
In 1995, she was nominated for
Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street
Theatre Company's production of "Hamlet". Other theatre credits include
Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's "Sweet Phoebe", Miranda in "The
Tempest" and Rose in "The Blind Giant is Dancing", both for the Belvoir
Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as
Bianca in ABC's Bordertown (1995), as Janie Morris in G.P. (1989) and in ABC's popular series Police Rescue (1994). She made her feature film debut in Camino al paraíso (1997). She also married writer Andrew Upton
in 1997.
She had met him a year earlier on a movie set, and they didn't
like each other at first. He thought she was aloof, and she thought he
was arrogant, but then they connected over a poker game at a party, and
she went home with him that night. Three weeks later he proposed
marriage and they quickly married before she went off to England to play
her breakthrough role in films: the title character in Elizabeth
(1998) for which she won numerous awards for her performance, including
the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama.
Cate was also nominated
for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandidos (2001), Atando cabos (2001), Charlotte Gray
(2001) and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the "Lord Of The Rings"
trilogy. She also gave birth to her first child, son Dashiell, in 2001.
In 2004, she gave birth to her second son Roman. Also, in 2004, she
played actress Katharine Hepburn
in Martin Scorsese's film "Aviator" (2004), for which she received an
Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress.
Two years later, she received
an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for playing a
teacher having an affair with an underage student in "Notes on a
Scandal" (2006). In 2007, she returned to the role that made her a star
in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007). It earned her an Oscar nomination
as Best Actress. She was nominated for another Oscar that same year as
Best Supporting Actress for playing Bob Dylan
in "I'm Not There" (2007). In 2008, she gave birth to her third child,
son Ignatius. She and her husband became artistic directors of the
Sydney Theatre Company, choosing to spend more time in Australia raising
their children.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Cate graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouse
| Andrew Upton | (29 December 1997 - present) (3 children) |
Trade Mark
Known for playing many different roles with multifarious
personalities, such as the young sensible English queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth (1998), the rude, hustling wife in Atando cabos (2001), and the dangerous Russian villain in Indiana Jones y el reino de la calavera de cristal (2008).
Blonde hair and blue eyes
Highly defined cheekbones
Trivia
1993: She was the first person to win the Sydney Theatre Critic's
Circle Theatre award for Best Newcomer (for her role in "Kafka Dances"),
and Best Lead Actress (for her role in David Mamet's "Oleanna", with the Sydney Theatre Company, opposite Shine (1996) star Geoffrey Rush in the same year.
Has an older brother named Bob who works in the computer field, and a younger sister, Genevieve who is a theater designer.
When she was 18, Cate was on vacation in Egypt. A fellow guest at a
cheap hotel in Cairo asked if she wanted to be an extra in a movie, the
Egyptian boxing movie Kaboria [Crabs (1990)], directed by Khairy
Beshara. She appeared in 3 scenes in that movie, in one of them she was
dancing to the main song of the movie.
Her father, (Robert Blanchett) a Texan advertising executive, died of a heart attack when she was ten years old.
After completing work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the role
of Galadriel, she kept and bronzed her elf ear prosthetics.
Was considered for the role of Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001). The part eventually went to Julianne Moore.
Enjoys making lists and crossing items off as she accomplishes them.
Chosen as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Was originally going to play the role of Anna in Mike Nichols's latest film Closer (2004), but due to her second pregnancy she had to drop out, so it was recast with Julia Roberts instead.
Was the original 'Tim-Tam' girl in the series of commercials promoting the product.
Was set to play "Portia" in Michael Radford's adaptation of William Shakespeare's El mercader de Venecia (2004), thus reuniting with actor Joseph Fiennes, her co-star from the blockbuster Elizabeth (1998), but had to drop out after discovering her pregnancy.
This also would have reunited her with Ian McKellen,
with whom she appeared in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, who would
have played "Shylock". He too ultimately left the project.
By winning the Oscar for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn, she became the first person to give an Oscar-winning portrayal of a previous Oscar winner.
1995: Nominated for Best Female Performance by the Melbourne Green
Room Awards, for the Belvoir St Theatre Company's production of
"Hamlet".
1992: Graduated from Australia's NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art).
Was unknowingly pregnant while portraying the pregnant journalist in Life Aquatic (2004).
Four of her six Oscar nominations are for playing real people (Queen Elizabeth I, Katharine Hepburn and Bob Dylan). The latter two are both Oscar winners themselves.
Won Best Female Actor, Helpmann Award for her performance in "Hedda Gabler".
In "The Lord of the Rings", she worked with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, who played "Frodo" and "Sam", respectively. Also appearing with her in those films, as well as in El aviador (2004), was Ian Holm, who played "Frodo" in the BBC radio series. In Diario de un escándalo (2006), she worked with Bill Nighy, who played "Sam" in the BBC radio series. In Elizabeth: La edad de oro (2007), she worked with Samantha Morton, who is engaged to Ian Holm's son, Harry Holm.
In Bandidos (2001), she works with Troy Garity. In El aviador (2004), she plays Katharine Hepburn, who appeared with Garity's mother, Jane Fonda and grandfather, Henry Fonda, in En el estanque dorado (1981).
Was considered for the role of Jane Smith in Sr. y Sra. Smith (2005).
Her Texan father, Robert Blanchett, met her mother, June, in Melbourne, Australia.
Was officially in the BAFTA longlist (Equivalently, the semi-finals) for Best Actress in a Leading Role, for her role in Diario de un escándalo
(2006) (unlike the Oscars, where she was competing for Supporting
Role), which consisted of 15 finalists for each category (except
Animated Film). However, she was eliminated in the next round, which the
five official nominees were selected.
Was Steven Spielberg's first choice for the role or Agatha in Minority Report (2002). After the death of Stanley Kubrick, he made A.I. Inteligencia Artificial (2001) his first priority, and she moved on to other projects. She was later able to work with Spielberg in Indiana Jones y el reino de la calavera de cristal (2008).
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#31). [2007].
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated her earnings for the year at $13 million.
She is one of the elite eleven thespians to have been nominated
for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for
their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Sigourney Weaver, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx.
She is one of five actors (and the only female actor) to be
nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate
films. She played "Queen Elizabeth I" in Elizabeth (1998) and in Elizabeth: La edad de oro (2007). The others are Bing Crosby as "Father Chuck O'Malley" in Siguiendo mi camino (1944) and Las campanas de Santa María (1945), Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie Felson" in El buscavidas (1961) and El color del dinero (1986), Peter O'Toole as "King Henry II" in Becket (1964) and El león en invierno (1968) and Al Pacino as "Michael Corleone" in El padrino (1972) and El padrino. Parte II (1974).
Good friends with actress Nicole Kidman.
Lives in Hunters Hill, Sydney, Australia.
Did not return to work until six months after giving birth to her
son Ignatius in order to take to the stage for a Broadway revival of "A
Streetcar Named Desire", where she portrayed Blanche DuBois.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion
Picture at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on December
5, 2008.
She was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in the 2001 Queen's
New Years Honours List for her services to acting and Australian
society.
Was originally cast as Mrs. Fox in Fantástico Sr. Fox (2009), but was later replaced by Meryl Streep.
Was originally cast as Izzi Creo in La fuente de la vida (2006), but was forced to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with Little Fish (2005). Rachel Weisz was then cast instead.
Returned to work seven months after giving birth to her son Dashiell in order to begin filming Veronica Guerin. En busca de la verdad (2003).
Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son Roman in order to begin filming Little Fish (2005).
Admitted to not hitting it off with her husband when she first met
him. Apparently he thought she was aloof and she thought he was
arrogant.
Gave birth to her second child at age 34, a son Roman Robert Upton on April 23, 2004. Child's father is her husband, Andrew Upton.
She was on set for only 8 days to shoot her scenes for El Hobbit: Un viaje inesperado (2012) and the two follow-ups.
Performing in "The War Of The Roses" in Sydney, Australia. [January 2009]
Sydney Theatre Company announced that husband and wife Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton would become artistic directors, beginning in 2008. [November 2006]
(France) Promoting Indiana Jones y el reino de la calavera de cristal (2008) at the Cannes Film Festival. [May 2008]
Washington, D.C: Performing in Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" at The Kennedy Center with her and husband Andrew Upton's group, the Sydney Theatre Company. [August 2011]
Five directors cast her more than once in their films: Gillian Armstrong, Shekhar Kapur, Steven Soderbergh, Todd Haynes, and Peter Jackson.
Her older brother Bob is smart but has a mild form of cerebral
palsy. When they were growing up, Cate always stuck up for him when the
other children made fun of him. Later, when she gave birth to her second
child Roman, she gave him the middle name of Bob, named after Cate's
brother and her deceased father Bob, Sr.
In 2008, although she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Elizabeth: La edad de oro (2007), she publicly declared that she had voted for Marion Cotillard in La vida en rosa (Edith Piaf) (2007), and described her performance as Édith Piaf
as "astonishing and inspiring".
When Cotillard was announced as the
winner, Blanchett was visibly happy for her win. In 2012, Blanchett
wrote an article for Variety praising Cotillard's performance in De óxido y hueso (2012).
Claimed that people mispronounce her last name all the time. She
said the correct way to pronounce it is BLAN-chit, not chet.
Holds the record as the only Australian actress to win two Academy Awards.
Is only the sixth actress to win both leading and supporting
actress Oscars. The other five are Maggie Smith, Meryl Streep, Jessica
Lange, Helen Hayes and Ingrid Bergman.
The only actor to be nominated and win Oscars for both of the
iconoclast New York directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen.
Was the 126th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for El aviador (2004) at The 77th Annual Academy Awards (2005) on February 27, 2005.
Personal Quotes
If you know you are going to fail, then fail gloriously!
When asked what colour her hair is: "Look, it's one of the great
mysteries of the world, I cannot answer that question. I think I'm
vaguely blonde. To be perfectly frank, I don't know."
When asked if she has ever appeared in Vecinos (1985): "Absolutely not. I'm an actress."
If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink
my entire life - that great sense of expectation and excitement without
the disappointment - that would be the perfect state.
It's part of my job. You can't play Veronica Guerin
[puts on heavy Strine] sounding like this. It just wouldn't wash. But
what I find fascinating about doing an accent - unless it's a farce - is
that it's not slapped on. [on doing many accents]
The more you do it, the more you learn to concentrate, as a child
does, incredibly intensively and then you sort of have to relax.
I
remember the first film I did, the lead actor would in between scenes be
reading a newspaper or sleeping and I'd think, "How can you do that?"
Thank you. I so didn't expected this. I wore a really tight dress
that's very ungracious walking up those stairs. Thank you very much, I
sort of don't know where to begin. Playing Katharine Hepburn,
I absolutely did not expect to be standing here in front of you
all. But Hepburn aside, I actually would like to say, as an actor coming
from another country to this country, I am so astounded and amazed, and
grateful, at the power of the SAG union and what it does for its
members. And I hope that other countries, mine own included, you know,
is inspired by that
- I think it's incredible. (SAG acceptance speech Feb. 5, 2005)
I'm one of those strange beasts who really likes a corset.
[on her first Oscar loss, in 1999] Sometimes I think it's so good
not to win those things. And, anyway, who wants to peak when they're 28?
Of course one worries about getting older--we're all fearful of
death, let's not kid ourselves. I'm simply not panicking as my laugh
lines grow deeper. Who wants a face with no history, no sense of humor?
[I have] this strange, probably unachievable fantasy about performing in German in Berlin. [But] I don't speak German.
[on being directed by Woody Allen in Blue Jasmine
(2013)] I found him forthcoming, generous and refreshingly honest. It
can be brutal when people are honest, but I much prefer to know if it's
not working, because you can do something with it - rather than people
who go, 'Oh, we'll fix it up in post [-production].' There is no post in
a Woody Allen movie. If it doesn't happen then, it doesn't happen at
all.
No one is ever who they purport to be. And I suppose I'm most
interested in the gap between who we project socially and who we really
are.
I don't know if I ever really wanted to be an actor. I'm an active
person - the thought of waiting for the phone to ring wasn't something
that sat happily with me. But I kept doing it, trying not to do it, and
then doing it. There's such a blessed unrest that you feel all the time,
but maybe that's what keeps you going.
I've done a lot of talking over the past six years. My husband and
I have been running the Sydney Theatre Company and it's been magic - my
kids have been able to see so many of those transient moments between
acting and real life behind the scenes. But now that I've given it up
I'm looking forward to being a bit quieter. I'm very conscious of that.
There have been times when I've heard myself in the past and thought:
"Aw, just shut up."
Working with Woody [Allen] is like an emotional strip club without the cash.
Salary
| Little Fish (2005) | $750.000 |
| Robin Hood (2010) | $10 .000.000 |
| Hanna (2011) | $7.000.000 |
