Cate Blanchett Biography

Cate Blanchett is one of Australia’s best-loved actors, known especially for her varied performances in Elizabeth, Lord of the Rings and Blue Jasmine.

She has been nominated for an Oscar as a supporting actor in The Aviator (2004, and she won), Notes On a Scandal (2006) and I’m Not There (2007, as Bob Dylan).

As a leading actor, Blanchett has earned nominations for Elizabeth (1998), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Blue Jasmine (2013, and she won), Carol (2015) and Tár (2022, directed by Todd Field).

Cate Blanchett grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where she studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art before embarking on a career on stage and screen.

Critics first took notice of the stern but willowy actress when she appeared in Oscar and Lucinda (1997), and her lead role in 1998’s Elizabeth earned her a Golden Globe award and her first Oscar nomination.

She later appeared in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, opposite Matt Damon), Pushing Tin (1999, opposite Billy Bob Thornton) and Bandits (2001, with Thornton and Bruce Willis), and played the mystical Galadriel in Peter Jackson‘s movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s book The Lord of the Rings, beginning in 2001. She reprised that role for Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014).

Blanchett’s other films include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, starring Brad Pitt), The Monuments Men (2014, starring and directed by George Clooney), Thor: Ragnarok (2017, starring Chris Hemsworth) and Ocean’s 8 (2018, co-starring Sandra Bullock and Anne Hathaway).