Biography of Cate Blanchett
Catherine Elise Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969, in Melbourne, Australia. With an Aussie mother and a Texan father, she was exposed to a range of cultures. When Cate was merely 10 years old, her father passed away, leaving her mother to take care of not only Cate, but also a younger sister and older brother. Her first taste of acting came when she joined a drama group at her Methodist College, playing small roles in small-time plays.
At the University of Melbourne, Cate Blanchett began studying art history before she decided to continue her education abroad. After spending some time in England, she did some traveling in Egypt, where she was asked to be an extra in a boxing movie being shot nearby.
cate blanchett at the national institute of dramatic art
After gaining a new perspective during her travels, Cate Blanchett enrolled and was accepted to an exclusive dramatic arts school in Sydney, Australia: the National Institute of Dramatic Art. She finally found her niche and excelled, graduating with much promise. One of her first big breaks arrived when she appeared with fellow Aussie Geoffrey Rush in a Sydney theater production, Oleanna, for which she picked up the Best Actress Rosemount Award from the Sydney Theater Critics Circle.
She began to dominate the Australian theater and television scene (she appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Heartland), and won Best Supporting Actress awards from the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia, both for her role in 1997's Thank God He Met Lizzie. That same year, interest poured in from the U.S. when she starred as half of Oscar and Lucinda, along with Ralph Fiennes.
cate blanchett in elizabeth
It took only one year for Cate Blanchett to see her world change completely. She was cast as Queen Elizabeth I in 1998's Elizabeth, which garnered incredible critical praise. Her role as the British monarch was awarded with the Best Actress title by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Chicago Film Critics and the Online Film Critics Society, to name but a few. Her brilliant work was also recognized by the Screen Actors Guild and at the Oscars, with Best Actress nominations (she lost to Gwyneth Paltrow at both ceremonies, for her work in another period piece, Shakespeare in Love). With one amazing undertaking, Cate Blanchett transformed into a great leading lady.
Projects began to roll in from all over after Elizabeth; 1999 saw the release of Pushing Tin with Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie, the romantic comedy An Ideal Husband, and The Talented Mr. Ripley with Matt Damon and Jude Law. The whirlwind continued in 2000 with The Gift, costarring Katie Holmes, and The Man Who Cried, followed by Bandits, Charlotte Gray and The Shipping News in 2001. Her fan base grew as people began to witness her chameleon-like qualities.
cate blanchett in lord of the rings
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released during the 2001 holiday season, and proved to be a hit among avid Tolkien fans and nonfans alike. Blanchett, as the Elf Queen Galadriel, enchanted all, and she reprized her role in the next two chapters of the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). 2002's Heaven with Giovanni Ribisi, and 2003's Veronica Guerin, Coffee and Cigarettes, and The Missing continued to pad her image as a wonderful actress.
cate blanchett wins an oscar
In 2004, Cate portrayed Katharine Hepburn alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator. Her incredible performance was rewarded with a Best Supporting Actress award at the 2005 Academy Awards ceremony.
Married to film editor and screenwriter Andrew Upton since 1997, Cate Blanchett gave birth to her first son, Dashiell John, in 2001, and her second, Roman Robert, in 2004. Cate Blanchett next added Little Fish (2005) to her filmography along with The Life Aquatic, starring Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, that same year.
In 2006, Cate was nominated for another Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in her role as a teacher who gets romantically involved with one of her much younger students in the film Notes on a Scandal. That same year, she also played Bob Dylan, of all people, in the film I'm Not There.
In 2007, Cate Blanchette reprised her role as Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and once again amazed audiences and critics alike with her believable performance as the former Queen of England.
