Chameleonic elegance BLANCHETT

atherine Elise Blanchett is the daughter of June, an Australian teacher, and Robert, a US Marine. The couple met when Robert’s ship broke down in Melbourne, and they fell in love at first sight. Robert stayed on in Australia, working in advertising ever since. A film-script romance, although they could never have imagined that their middle child would become one of the biggest film stars of all time.

TEXT: EVA DEL AMO

When Cate was just 10 years old, her father died of a sudden heart attack. Years later, the actress would tell how she did not kiss her father goodbye that day, as she usually did, but simply waved to him. The trauma has remained with her and is the reason why the actress never leaves the house without saying goodbye to each and every member of her family.

After her father’s death, Cate chose to dress in boy’s clothes, later going through goth and punk phases during her teenage years. It was at high school that she had her first encounter with the performing arts, although she later decided to study economics and fine arts at Melbourne University. She dropped out after the first year, feeling that it was not for her and that she needed something more.

In an attempt to find herself and discover what she would like to do, she decided to travel the world. When she arrived in Egypt, a producer offered her a part as an extra in a film, and this experience would be a key factor behind Cate Blanchett’s decision to become an actress.

CShe returned to Australia and enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art, giving her first performances with the Sydney Theatre Company. After several supporting roles on television, she was cast in the film Oscar and Lucinda with Glenn Close, which in turn led to her playing Elizabeth I of England in the film Elizabeth. Her tough yet sensitive nature enabled her to give a simply perfect performance, which brought her great success both with the public and with critics.

International Acclaim

Blanchett’s international recognition came with her role as Galadriel in the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings (20012003). Three years later, she surprised the world again with The Aviator, in which she played Katherine Hepburn; a role that won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Other successful films would follow, such as Babel; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Hobbit trilogy; and Blue Jasmine, the Woody Allen film for which she won her second Oscar.

A successful woman, both in her professional and personal life, Blanchett married Australian playwright Andrew Upton in 1997, forming one of the most stable marriages in the film industry. However, for them it was not a case of love at first sight. Years later, Blanchett admitted, “He thought I was aloof, and I thought he was arrogant. Once he kissed me, everything changed”.

The couple have four children. Their youngest daughter was adopted in 2015, years after Cate and Andrew had decided to settle back in the US after living in Australia for some time.

Major Accomplishments

Cate Blanchett is considered one of the most chameleonic and elegant actresses on the international movie scene. She always features in the lists of best-dressed women, and is often chosen by brands such as Giorgio Armani to represent their products. A woman of inner as well as outer beauty, she is a strong advocate for female empowerment, and for the rights of the underprivileged. This commitment has led her to be appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

She boasts a track record of awards that few actors possess: two Oscars, three Golden Globes, three Bafta Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Renowned for leading a discreet lifestyle, she currently combines her work in the film industry with the artistic direction of the Sydney Theatre Company, a role she shares with her husband.

As for her upcoming projects, she will be shooting a film with Pedro Almodóvar, which will be the Spanish director’s

- first feature film in English; an adaptation of the novel “A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin. They both lavished mutual praise when Almodóvar presented the actress with the International Goya last February.

Despite her success, Cate Blanchett is already thinking about retiring, as she confessed in one of her recent interviews: “When I was younger, I would wonder why the older actors I admired kept talking about quitting. Now I realise it’s because they want to maintain a connection to the last shreds of their sanity.”