Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and, in a little over a year, had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's "Top Girls", then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Tim Daly's "Kafka Dances", winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance. From there, Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet's searing polemic "Oleanna", also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama Heartland, again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company's production of "Hamlet". Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's "Sweet Phoebe", Miranda in "The Tempest" and Rose in "The Blind Giant is Dancing", both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. In other television roles, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABC's Bordertown, as Janie Morris in G.P. and in ABC's popular series Police Rescue. She made her feature film debut in Paradise Road, and, in 1998, she played the title character in Elizabeth, winning numerous awards for her performance, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. Cate was also nominated for an Academy Award for the role but lost out to Gwyneth Paltrow. 2001 was a particularly busy year, with starring roles in Bandits, The Shipping News, Charlotte Gray and playing Elf Queen Galadriel in the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.



Little Fish (2005): $750,000

1993: She was the first person to win the Sydney Theatre Critic's Circle Theatre award for Best Newcomer (for her role in "Kafka Dances"), and Best Lead Actress (for her role in David Mamet's Oleanna, with the Sydney Theatre Company, opposite Shine (1996) star Geoffrey Rush)in the same year. When she was 18, Cate was on vacation in Egypt. A fellow guest at a cheap hotel in Cairo asked if she wanted to be an extra in a movie, and the next day she found herself in a crowd scene, cheering for an American boxer who was losing to an Egyptian. She dreaded the experience and walked off from the movie. Her father, (Robert Blanchett) a Texan ad executive, died of a heart attack when she was ten years old. Was considered for the role of Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001). The part eventually went to Julianne Moore. In an interview she gave to Fox Television Network, she admitted blushingly that she had accepted the role of Galadriel, the Elf Queen, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy because she always wanted to appear in a movie wearing pointed ears. Chosen as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful." [1999] Has been in 6 movies where the title contains the name of the character she plays: Veronica Guerin (2003), Charlotte Gray (2001), Elizabeth (1998), Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997), Oscar and Lucinda (1997) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). [February 2008] Second son, Roman Robert, with Andrew Upton, born 23 April 2004 in London, England. September 2004: Flew back home to Melbourne, Australia to launch the skincare range from SK-II at Australia's leading department store Myer. By winning the Oscar for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn, she became the first person to give an Oscar-winning portrayal of a previous Oscar winner. In The Aviator (2004), she works opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Howard Hughes. The year before, she appeared in The Missing (2003/I) with Tommy Lee Jones. Jones played Hughes years earlier in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) (TV). Won the Rosemont Best Actress Award for her performance in "Oleanna". Was unknowingly pregnant while portraying the pregnant journalist in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Won Best Female Actor, Helpmann Award for her performance in "Hedda Gabler". [2005] Is of French descent. She participated in 7 films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, four of them in a row: Elizabeth (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Was considered for the role of Jane Smith in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Her Texan father, Robert Blanchett, met her mother, June, in Melbourne. She and her The Shipping News (2001) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) co-star Judi Dench both received Oscar-nominations for playing Queen Elizabeth I in 1999. Dench won for her supporting role in Shakespeare in Love (1998) while Blanchett was nominated for Elizabeth (1998). Was Steven Spielberg's first choice for the role or Agatha in Minority Report (2002). After the death of Stanley Kubrick, he made Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) his first priority, and she moved on to other projects. She was later able to work with Spielberg in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#31). [2007]. She is one of the elite eleven thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Sigourney Weaver, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx. She is one of five actors (and the only female actor) to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films. She played "Queen Elizabeth I" in Elizabeth (1998) and in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). The others are Bing Crosby as "Father Chuck O'Malley" in Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie Felson" in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986), Peter O'Toole as "King Henry II" in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968) and Al Pacino as "Michael Corleone" in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974). Son, Ignatius Martin Upton, was born 13 April 2008 in Sydney, weighing 8 pounds. Good friends with actress Nicole Kidman. Lives in Hunters Hill, Sydney Australia. She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Picture at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Was originally cast as Mrs. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), but was later replaced by Meryl Streep. Was originally cast as Izzi Creo in The Fountain (2006), but was forced to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with Little Fish (2005). Rachel Weisz was then cast instead. Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son Roman in order to begin filming Little Fish (2005).