Catherine Elise Blanchett is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
After graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Blanchett began her acting career on the Australian stage. She came to international attention as Elizabeth I in the drama film Elizabeth (1998), for which she won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actress, and received her first Academy Award nomination. Her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She later won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing a neurotic former socialite in Woody Allen's comedy-drama Blue Jasmine (2013). Blanchett's other Oscar-nominated roles were in Notes on a Scandal (2006), I'm Not There (2007), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Carol (2015), making her the most Oscar nominated Australian. Her biggest commercial successes include The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Cinderella (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Ocean's 8 (2018), and Don't Look Up (2021).
Blanchett has performed in over 20 theatre productions. From 2008 to 2013, she and her husband, Andrew Upton, were the artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. Some of her stage roles during that period were in acclaimed revivals of A Streetcar Named Desire, Uncle Vanya, Groß und klein and The Maids. She made her Broadway debut in 2017 in The Present, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She has also two received Emmy Award nominations for producing and starring as Phyllis Schlafly in the period drama miniseries Mrs. America (2020).
Blanchett is the recipient of several honorary awards. The Australian government awarded her the Centenary Medal in 2001, and she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2017. In 2012, she was appointed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. In 2015, she was honoured by the Museum of Modern Art and received the British Film Institute Fellowship. Blanchett has received honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney and Macquarie University. Time named her one of its 100 most influential people in the world in 2007. In 2018, she was ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses.
