Australian beauty Cate Blanchett is a collector of awards, and her famous high cheekbones, fair skin and blonde hair have won her many films with title roles.
Blanchett was born in Ivanhoe in Melbourne, Australia, to an Australian mother and an American father. She lost her father at the age of ten and considers herself not much of a social person. She completed her education at Ivanhoe East Primary School before going to the Methodist Ladies College for Girls. It was here in college that she first got interested in acting. Later she studied Economics and Fine Art before deciding to travel. By eighteen, while on holiday in Europe, she had her first bit role in a movie as an enthusiastic spectator at a boxing match. She came back to Australia and joined the National Institute of Dramatic Arts.
She made a mark on the Australian theatre scene by bagging the Sydney Theatre Critic’s Best Newcomer award for playing Oleana in David Mamet’s play of the same name. She acted in many theatre productions such as Hamlet where her portrayal of the character Ophelia won her a nomination for the best female performer. And Kafka Dances also won her an award. She also starred in television primetime dramas Heartland and Police Rescue .
Her movie debut, which won international recognition, was Paradise Road (1997) in which she played a nurse captured by the Japanese. But the biggest success of her career was Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth (1998), which won her a Golden Globe, a BAFTA for Best Actress and a nomination for the same at the Oscars.
Blanchett further made her mark as an actress of great skill with her role as the High Elf Queen Galadriel in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In her words, the pointed ears “were the real fascination”. This highly talented actress was also nominated for her role in the Talented Mr Ripley (1999) and Notes on a Scandal (2006). She won an Oscar for the Best Supporting Actress for the film The Aviator (2004) where she played the character of Katherine Hepburn. She also played Bob Dylan in I’m Not There (2007) and claims being terrified of meeting him after impersonating him in the film.
Time magazine put Blanchett on the list of “100 Most Influential People in The World” in 2007. She was also voted as one of the most successful actresses by Forbes magazine. Blanchett married playwright Andrew Upton in 1997 and has three children. This Australian couple decided to move back to their country because they missed their home and felt they could contribute to the Sydney theatre scene. Currently they are the artistic co-directors of the Sydney Theatre Company.
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