A Look at Cate Blanchett's Career in Photos

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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1998: Hamburg Festival

The actor traveled to the Hamburg Festival shortly after.

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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.

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1999: At the Theater

Blanchett is pictured here at the 1999 season launch for Sydney’s Belvoir St. Theatre.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.

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2005: Spending Time With Family

Blanchett poses for a photographer with her husband and two sons, Roman and Dashiell.

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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.

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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.

Brittany is a freelance writer based in her hometown of New York City. She writes about everything from fashion and beauty to food and wellness. When she's not writing, she can often be found at her local library, playing with her cats, or exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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