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There’s no doubt about it: Cate Blanchett is a Hollywood icon. She’s starred in dozens of films, won awards including two Oscars and four Golden Globes, and was named a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador in 2016. The actor, who got her start onstage in Australia, was also a part of one of the most popular and epic film series of all time, as the elf queen Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings. From her ability to play a diverse range of roles to her elegant style, there is no one like her. Ahead, we take a look at some of Blanchett’s most memorable career moments.
1994: Growing Up in Australia
Blanchett, who was born in Melbourne, discovered her love of the performing arts as a teen. After being cast in the 1990 Egyptian film Kaboria in her 20s, she enrolled at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, receiving her bachelor of fine arts degree in 1992.
1994: Aussie TV Debut
One of Blanchett’s earliest roles was in 1994’s Heartland, an Australian television drama miniseries. Here, she laughs with her costar Aaron Pedersen at the show’s launch party in Sydney.
1995: A Minor Role
A year later, Blanchett appeared in another Australian miniseries, Bordertown. The show was set in a 1950s refugee camp, and Blanchett had a minor role in it as an Italian immigrant.
1997: Acting Alongside Glenn Close and Frances McDormand
Her feature-film debut was a supporting role in the Bruce Beresford–directed Paradise Road. In the movie, Blanchett plays an Australian nurse living through World War II. In addition to Blanchett, the film starred Glenn Close and Frances McDormand.
Late 1997: Her First Leading Role
Blanchett’s first leading role was in Oscar and Lucinda, a romantic drama based on the novel by Peter Carey. She played one of the title roles, Lucinda Laplastrier, a woman who becomes a wealthy heiress after her parents die. Many praised Blanchett for her riveting performance.
1997: Receiving the AFI Best Actress Award
That same year, Blanchett starred in Thank God He Met Lizzie, (released in the United States as The Wedding Party), for which she won the AFI Best Actress Award.
1998: Becoming Elizabeth
Blanchett rose to international fame after her performance in Elizabeth, a film about 16th-century British monarch Queen Elizabeth I. Here, the actor can be seen posing at the film’s premiere party.
1998: Hamburg Festival
The actor traveled to the Hamburg Festival shortly after.
1999: A Golden Globe Award
People were so blown away by Blanchett’s portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I that she received a Golden Globe for her performance. In her acceptance speech, she gave thanks to a long list of people, including her friends, family, castmates, and crew.
1999: At the Theater
Blanchett is pictured here at the 1999 season launch for Sydney’s Belvoir St. Theatre.
1999: A Busy Year
In 1999, the actor appeared in several films, including Pushing Tin, a comedy-drama film about an arrogant air traffic controller, played by John Cusack. Critics especially praised Blanchett for her depiction of his wife, Connie Falzone.
1999: A Love Story
Blanchett met her husband, playwright Andrew Upton, in the mid-’90s after crossing paths at work. The two dated for just three weeks before getting engaged and are still married today. The couple has four children—Roman, Edith, Dashiell, and Ignatius—and they currently live in England.
1999: A Second BAFTA Nomination
Blanchett acted alongside Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Talented Mr. Ripley, which saw critical and financial success. She portrayed Meredith Logue and received her second BAFTA nomination for her performance.
2001: Playing Galadriel
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a phenomenon that catapulted Blanchett to even greater heights—she played elf queen Galadriel in all three LOTR installments. Not only was the trilogy a critical success, it also made over $2.9 billion at the box office, and the series is still regarded as one of the best fantasy film franchises ever produced.
2002: A Romantic Thriller
One year later, Blanchett played a grieving woman in the romantic thriller Heaven, which starred Giovanni Ribisi. (You may remember him as Phoebe Buffay’s brother on Friends.)
2003: A Packed Schedule
2003 was another busy year for Blanchett—she reprised her role as Galadriel in the final installment of LOTR, starred in Ron Howard’s The Missing, and appeared in Coffee and Cigarettes, a Jim Jarmusch film in which she played two separate roles. Here, she is pictured with Iggy Pop and Jarmusch at the premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
2004: A Film and a Pregnancy
Director Wes Anderson and Blanchett are pictured here attending the Los Angeles screening of their movie The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. In this film, she portrays Jane Winslett-Richardson, a pregnant reporter interested in interviewing the titular undersea explorer. Coincidentally, Blanchett actually was pregnant during filming.
2005: Spending Time With Family
Blanchett poses for a photographer with her husband and two sons, Roman and Dashiell.
2005: An Award-Worthy Role
Critics and audiences alike praised Blanchett’s depiction of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. In fact, the actor received her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this performance.
2005: Filming Babel in Morocco
Blanchett jetted off to Morocco in 2005 to film Babel alongside Brad Pitt. The film, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, was a success and received seven Academy Award nominations.
2006: Working With Geoge Clooney
That same year, she appeared with George Clooney in The Good German, a neo-noir crime film set in post–World War II Germany.
2006: Performing at BAM
From the screen to the stage, Blanchett has proven she can do it all. In 2006, she starred in the Sydney Theatre Company’s rendition of Hedda Gabler at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
2007: Starring With the Dame
Blanchett, seen here with Dame Judi Dench, appeared opposite the legendary actor in the psychological thriller Notes on a Scandal. The two both received Academy Award nominations for their performances.
2007: A Timeless Honor
Time gave Blanchett one of its highest honors by including her on its “100 Most Influential People in the World in 2007” list. Here, she is pictured with Time Inc. CEO and chairman Ann Moore at a cocktail party.
2007: Revisiting Elizabeth
Elizabeth received such immense critical success that a sequel was made nearly a decade later. Here, Blanchett is seen arriving at the celebratory dinner for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, held during the Rome Film Festival.
2008: Playing Bob Dylan
In 2008, the talented actor won a Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her portrayal of folk singer gone electric Jude Quinn (inspired by real-life legend Bob Dylan) in 2007’s I’m Not There.
2008: Working With Spielberg
Another of Blanchett’s biggest films was Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In this long-awaited return to the beloved archaeologist’s adventures, Blanchett plays villain Irina Spalko, an ex–Soviet Army officer with psychic abilities.
2008: A Film Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Blanchett played one of the leading roles in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
2008: Cate As CEO
Blanchett added “CEO” and “artistic director” to her résumé in 2008, when she and her husband took on those roles at the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2009, she also performed onstage as Blanche DuBois in the company’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
2008: Receiving a Hollywood Star
In 2008, the actor was honored with a star on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2010: Working with Russell & Ridley
In 2010, Blanchett starred alongside Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. She shared with CBS that her children often came to visit her while working on set. “They came every day after school, and there was Russell with bow and arrows and the Merry Men playing their lutes and their mandolins,” she said. “They loved it. You know, for eight-year-old boys, six-year-old boys.”
2012: A Return to the Stage
Blanchett again returned to the stage to take on the role of Lotte Kotte in Botho Strauss’s 1978 play Big and Small. The show traveled to London, Paris, and Vienna after its initial release in Sydney.
2012: Smiling With Friends
Here, the actress is seen smiling at the Big and Small press day after-party.
2012: Reprising Galadriel
Blanchett once again took on the role of Galadriel for the Lord of the Ring prequel trilogy, The Hobbit. In this photograph, she signs autographs for fans waiting for her outside the movie’s royal film performance.
2013: A Praise-Worthy Performance
The actress looked regal while attending the red carpet for the Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine, in which she starred in the lead role. Some believe she gave one of her best performances of her career in this film, and Blanchett’s work won her a second Oscar for Best Actress.
2014: Working With Fellow Hollywood Greats
Fellow Hollywood greats—including Matt Damon, George Clooney, Bill Murray, and John Goodman—joined Blanchett in the movie The Monuments Men. Inspired by a nonfiction novel, the film tells the story of a group of museum directors, curators, and othres, who work together to get back artwork stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
2015: Five Movies in One Year
2015 proved to be another busy year for the actor—she starred in not one, not two, but five movies. Blanchett is pictured here walking the red carpet for one of these films, Cinderella.
2015: A Political Drama
Robert Redford and Blanchett joined forces in the political drama Truth. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here, she is pictured with longtime news anchor Dan Rather, whose story inspired the film.
2017: Her Broadway Debut
After a string of films, Blanchett decided to return to the stage—this time on Broadway. Popular New York City Theater District restaurant Sardi’s honored her run in The Present by creating a caricature of her, shown here.
2017: Becoming a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador
Besides acting, Blanchett has been an advocate for important causes throughout the years. In 2016, the actress was named a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency. Here, she is seen attending a U.N. luncheon with fellow Australian actor Deborra-Lee Furness.
2018: Ocean’s 8
Blanchett joined some of Hollywood’s biggest stars (Sandra Bullock, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sarah Paulson—need we say more?) to shoot heist comedy Ocean’s 8. The actor took on the role of Lou, wife and partner in crime to Debbie Ocean, played by Bullock.
2020: New Role As Executive Producer
In 2020, Blanchett played a supporting role in the Australian drama series Stateless and was also the show’s co-creator and executive producer. The series, which later had its international release on Netflix, won several awards.
2020: Mrs. America
Later that year, Blanchett produced the nine-part FX/Hulu history drama miniseries Mrs. America. She also played the starring role of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly.
2022: Don’t Look Up
Here, Tyler Perry and Meryl Streep stand beside Blanchett to present a clip of their movie Don’t Look Up at the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
2023: Tár
One of Blanchett’s most recent projects is Tár, is a psychological drama about a famous conductor. She won her fourth Golden Globe for her performance in it.
