Cate Blanchett Biography
Published: Nov 11, 2022
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Cate Blanchett

Catherine Elise Blanchett AC is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

After graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Blanchett began her acting career on the Australian stage, taking on roles in Electra in 1992 and Hamlet in 1994. She came to international attention as Elizabeth I in the drama film Elizabeth (1998), for which she won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for Best Actress, and received her first Academy Award nomination. Her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing a neurotic former socialite in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Blue Jasmine (2013). Blanchett's other Oscar-nominated roles include Notes on a Scandal (2006), I'm Not There (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Carol (2015). With seven nominations total, she is the most nominated Australian at the Academy Awards.

Blanchett has performed in over 20 theatre productions. From 2008 to 2013, she and her husband, Andrew Upton, were the artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. Some of her stage roles during that period were in revivals of A Streetcar Named Desire, Uncle Vanya, Groß und klein, and The Maids, garnering several theatre awards and nominations. She made her Broadway debut in 2017 in The Present, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Blanchett has also received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Limited Series as a producer for the FX/Hulu historical drama miniseries Mrs. America (2020).

Blanchett is the recipient of several honorary awards. The Australian government awarded her the Centenary Medal in 2001, and she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2017.[5] In 2012, she was appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. In 2015, she was honoured by the Museum of Modern Art and received the British Film Institute Fellowship. Blanchett has received honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney and Macquarie University. Time magazine named her one of its 100 most influential people in the world in 2007. In 2018, she was ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses.

Blanchett is regarded as one of the finest and most versatile actresses of her generation. 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. She has also been praised for her mastery over a wide array of diverse accents, including English, Irish, French, and various regional American accents.

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. 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, behind Audrey Hepburn and Liv Tyler. She was on Empire's list of the "100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All-Time" in 2007 and 2013.

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