Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're exploring
the really quite incredible career of Cate Blanchett.
We're looking at the sources, the history, and
trying to chart the... well the almost architectural
path she's taken that's a great way to put it
yeah our mission today is really to get past
just listing awards you know we want to dig into
how she built this professional life step by
step exactly how does someone become this powerhouse
actor but also a theater director producer and
well a global citizen all at once right we're
looking at the sheer range obviously but also
the record she holds is kind of dual career she
manages stage versus screen Art versus activism.
Yeah, it's less about like tabloid stuff and
much more about the deliberate choices, the conscious
decisions that, you know, elevate someone from
just being talented to being truly generation
defining. Precisely. So let's lay down some foundational
facts for you. Catherine Elise Blanchett, born
Melbourne 1969, known everywhere, holds dual
citizenship, Australia and the U .S. And the
awards. I mean, it's staggering. It really is.
Two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, four Golden
Globes. And that's just scratching the surface.
Hundreds of nominations and wins. So that level
of consistent quality, it really makes you want
to look closer, doesn't it? We're trying to uncover
the thinking behind it all. How did she go from
intense Australian stage work to global film
star while, you know... Running a major theater
company and doing significant humanitarian work.
That's the core question. Okay, let's dive into
segment one. From Melbourne wallflower to Australian
stage star, her family background itself sounds
like something out of a movie. It really does.
And you can almost see the duality starting there.
Her mom, June, Australian teacher, property developer,
very grounded, right? But her dad, Robert DeWitt
Blanchett Jr., he was American. Mm hmm. From
Texas. Yeah. U .S. Navy chief petty officer,
then an advertising exec. Completely different
world. And how they met is just perfect. His
ship broke down in Melbourne. Yeah, exactly.
So you've got this blend, this American maybe
pragmatism meeting Australian resilience right
from the start. But there was early tragedy,
too. Yes. Her father died very suddenly. A heart
attack when Kate was only 10, losing a parent
that young. It's often mentioned as a really
pivotal shaping experience for her. Yeah, you
can imagine. Maybe that explains how she described
herself later. Part extrovert, part wallflower.
And the teenage experimentation, the goth phase,
the punk phase, shaving her head. Right. That
desire to kind of outwardly transform, push boundaries.
Yeah. Maybe that's the first hint of the performer
to come. Could be. But interestingly, her first
plan wasn't acting at all. She went through the
Melbourne school system, Ivanhoe East Primary,
Ivanhoe Girls Grammar, Methodist Ladies College.
Okay. And then enrolled at the University of
Melbourne. But get this, for a Bachelor of Business
Administration. Business. Seriously. Unexpected.
Totally. Very practical, very non -arty. But
she dropped out. And this is where, like, the
planned life just takes a sharp turn. So wait,
how did she end up acting then? It wasn't a direct
path. Not at all. She dropped out of uni, was
traveling, needed cash, and ended up in Egypt.
Yeah. Took a job as an extra playing an American
cheerleader, of all things, in this 1990 Egyptian
boxing movie called Kaboria. Just needed the
money. Wow. That's about as accidental a start
as you can get. Isn't it? But maybe that little
taste of being on set did something. Because
when she got back to Australia, she didn't go
back to business studies. She moved to Sydney.
And enrolled at NIDA. Exactly. The National Institute
of Dramatic Art. And let's be clear for you listening.
NID is the place in Australia. Think Mel Gibson,
G .D. Davis. It's the top tier. Graduating from
there in 92 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts that
signals serious training, serious classical grounding.
And the impact was immediate. Yeah. Unbelievably
fast. Straight out of NID in 92, her first professional
stage role is Carol in David Mamet's Oleana,
opposite Geoffrey Rush. That's a challenging
play to start with. Hugely. And in the same year,
she's also doing classical tragedy cast as Clytemnestra
in Sophocles' Electra. Yeah. Then she actually
stepped up to play Electra herself during rehearsals.
The range, right from day one. And this leads
to something pretty amazing in 1993. She sets
a record. First actor ever in Australian theater
history to win the Sydney Theatre Critics Best
Newcomer Award for a really experimental play,
Kafka Dances. Okay. And Best Actress for Oleana,
that gritty, modern, verbal sparring match. Both
awards, same year. Wow. Okay, so that tells you
something fundamental. Oleana needs that sharp
contemporary realism. Kafka Dances is what, physical
theater, abstract? Exactly. So she wasn't just
good. She was immediately versatile across totally
different styles. She had the technique nailed.
Right out of the gate. And she kept honing the
classical side, too. Mm -hmm. Played Ophelia
in Hamlet in 94 and 95, again, often with Rush.
So she's mastering Shakespeare years before Hollywood
really knows who she is. That stage foundation,
that classical architecture, it's absolutely
key to everything that follows on screen. Okay,
so that incredible Australian stage grounding
really set her up for the next big phase, which
is segment two, Queen Elizabeth and the international
launch, starting around 97. Yeah, the move to
screen was gradual at first, but seemed pretty
deliberate. Little bits on Aussie TV Heartland
in 94, Bordertown 95. Then her first feature
film was Paradise Road in 97, a supporting role,
building the CV. But the role that really got
the critics buzzing was her first lead, wasn't
it? Oscar and Lucinda. Absolutely, yeah. 1997,
opposite Ralph Fiennes. That's when people really
started saying, OK, who is this? I remember the
reviews. Manuel Levy called her a luminous newcomer.
And... basically predicted stardom right there.
So she was bound to become a major star. When
a big critic says that about your first lead.
It means something. And she was busy back home,
too. Won her first AFI Best Actress award for
a rom -com, Thank God He Met Lizzie, that same
year. Right. So Oscar and Lucinda created the
buzz, but the film that properly launched her
internationally was, of course, Elizabeth in
1998. Playing Queen Elizabeth I. Directed by
Shikhar Kapoor, that was the one. Goldenblow,
BAFTA win, first Oscar nomination. Suddenly,
she's global. And the role itself demanded so
much transformation. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't just
putting on the costumes. Critics talked about
how she built the character. David Rooney said
she did it imperceptibly, showing that shift
from this, you know, uncertain young woman to
the formidable virgin queen with real grace,
poise, and intelligence. But here's the really
smart architectural move, I think. Straight after
Elizabeth, she's suddenly this major historical
figure actor, right? What does she do next? Most
actors would probably lean into that, do more
period pieces. Exactly. But she completely switches
gears. 1999, she does Pushing Tin, a contemporary
comedy about air traffic controllers. Right.
With John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. And
then, same year, the talented Mr. Ripley, critically
acclaimed, another BAFTA nomination, so boom,
boom, historical, epic, modern comedy, psychological
thriller. She's sending a message right away.
Don't typecast me. Totally. She's an actor. Full
stop. Capable of anything. And interestingly,
she was already dipping her toes into producing
back then. Really? As early as 99? Yeah, produced
and acted in a short film called Bangers. Her
husband, Andrew Upton, wrote and directed it.
So that desire to, you know, control the creative
side, it was there from very early on. Which
brings us nicely into segment three, roughly
2001 to 2007. And this is where we see her masterfully
balancing massive global blockbusters with really
challenging artistic roles and setting that first
Oscar record. Okay, so the blockbuster side,
you can't ignore The Lord of the Rings, right?
Absolutely not. Playing Galadriel in Peter Jackson's
trilogy, I mean, the scale is just phenomenal.
What did those films gross? Something crazy.
Nearly $3 billion. Yeah. And they're still seen
as, you know, the pinnacle of fantasy filmmaking.
So playing Galadriel made her instantly recognizable
to literally billions of people. She became this
fantasy icon. But crucially, while she's being
this ethereal elf queen, she's making completely
different choices elsewhere. Deliberately, it
seems. Definitely. Look at 2001. She does Bandits,
a crime comedy. Her first big comedy role, really.
And people noticed her comedic timing. Oh, yeah.
The BBC singled her out, said she was a real
find as a comedian, called her performance unhinged,
though undeniably sexy. I mean, that's about
as far from Galadriel as you can get. And then
The Year After Heaven, that was intense. Super
intense. Directed by Tom Tykwer from a Kieslowski
script. Playing a woman who commits this, uh...
Act of terrorism out of grief. The New York Times
called it her most compelling screen performance
up to that point. Praise the raw emotion. So
she's actively pushing her own boundaries, not
just relying on the big hits. The range in just
those few years is wild. She did Jim Jarmusch's
Coffee and Cigarettes, playing two different
characters. And Veronica Guerin, that biographical
film. Very raw again. Which leads us to 2004
and The Aviator. Directed by Scorsese, playing
Katharine Hepburn. And this is where she wins
her first Oscar. Best Supporting Actress. And
sets that really specific, almost unbelievable
record. Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? She
becomes the first actor ever to win an Academy
Award for playing another Academy Award winning
act. It's like peak acting inception or something.
It speaks volumes about the preparation, right?
What did Scorsese ask her to do? He was serious
about getting Hepburn right. Apparently, he had
her watch 35mm prints of Hepburn's first 15 films.
Not just DVDs, like proper prints. Wow. So she's
studying the physicality, the voice, everything
from the original source. Exactly. She said herself
it was very daunting trying to represent Kate
Hepburn and Froome, the same medium she existed
in. And meanwhile, she's still investing back
home in Australia, her production company Dirty
Films with Andrew Upton. Right. In 2005, she
wins the AFI Best Actress Award for Little Fish,
which Dirty Films also co -produced. So she's
maintaining that connection, nurturing the local
industry alongside the global career. Which all
builds towards 2007. That was just an incredible
year for her, cinematically. Unbelievable. Two
Oscar nominations in the same year. But look
at the roles. Best Actress for playing Elizabeth
again in Elizabeth, The Olden Age. Reprising
the role. And best supporting actress for playing
Jude Quinn, one of the Bob Dylan figures in I'm
Not There. Think about that for a second. The
technical jump from playing 16th century English
royalty, all formal and historical, to embodying
this like androgynous 60s counterculture folk
icon in the same year. It's an astonishing display
of range. And it led to those two Oscar records
getting nominated twice in one year. and being
the first actress nominated twice for playing
the same character, Elizabeth I. Roger Ebert
summed it up perfectly, didn't he? He did. That
Blanchett could appear, playing Elizabeth and
Bob Dylan, both splendidly, is a wonder of acting.
It's not just talent at that point, it's total
mastery. OK, so segment four, roughly 2008 to
2016. This phase is maybe the most unique part
of her career structure because she's juggling
global film stardom with running a major theater
company. Right. From 2008 to 2013, she and Andrew
Upton are co -CEOs and artistic directors of
the Sydney Theater Company, the STC. And this
wasn't just like a figurehead role, was it? Not
at all. This was proper leadership. Managing
budgets, fundraising, setting the artistic vision
for one of Australia's biggest arts organizations.
It's a massive corporate and creative job, all
while still making movies. It honestly sounds
impossible, but the work they produced at STC
during that time was world class. Absolutely.
Their productions toured internationally and
got rave reviews. Think about 2009. She plays
Blanche Dubois in a streetcar named Desire, directed
by... Liv Ullman, no less. And that production
went to the U .S., didn't it? Brooklyn Academy
of Music. Yep. And the critics went wild. Jane
Fonda saw it and called it perhaps the greatest
stage performance I have ever seen. That's high
praise. It doesn't get much higher. John Lahr
in The New Yorker basically said he never expected
to see a better Blanche DuBois in his lifetime.
Wow. And then she did Chekhov, too. 2011, Uncle
Vanya played Yelena, toured internationally again.
Ben Brantley at The New York Times wrote that
she Confirms her status as one of the best and
bravest actresses on the planet, being called
brave for tackling Chekhov. That says something.
And this directorship period allowed her to weave
in her other passions too, right? The environmental
stuff. Yes, the Greeny the Wharf program at STC.
This is a fantastic example of her using that
leadership position. So what did it involve?
It wasn't just putting out recycling bins, presumably.
No, no. It was major infrastructure, installing
huge solar panel arrays on the theater's roof,
massive rainwater harvesting systems, completely
overhauling waste management for the whole building.
Why would a theater company do all that? Because
she and Upton made it a priority. They used their
influence to say our art needs to be sustainable,
ethically and environmentally. It connected her
public advocacy for the environment with concrete
action within an institution she led. And it
won awards, like a Green Globe Award. That's
impressive integration. And all this while she's
still doing massive blockbusters? Yep. 2008,
she's the villain Arena Spalco in Indiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Huge hit.
Nearly $800 million worldwide. And she reprised
Galadriel for the Hobbit trilogy. Right. Apparently,
Peter Jackson specifically added the character
back into the story. partly because they really
wanted her involved. That shows her star power.
So this combination of stage cred, environmental
action, and box office clout sets the stage for
her second Oscar win. Exactly. 2013 Blue Jasmine,
Woody Allen film. And the performance was just
universally lauded. People called it maybe the
best thing she'd ever done. Mark Kermode's analogy
was great, like... a peak fitness runner facing
a marathon yeah it was this incredibly demanding
portrayal of a total psychological collapse holding
on to this facade of grandeur Technically, what
made it so hard? Just the sheer emotional and
physical commitment, I think. Living that breakdown,
that spiral, convincingly for the whole film.
It required absolute control and absolute abandon
at the same time. And winning Best Actress for
that made her the first Australian to win two
acting Oscars. And only the sixth actress ever
to win in both lead and supporting categories.
Joins a very elite club. There was controversy
around the director at the time, though. How
did she handle that when accepting the award?
She addressed it, yeah. Carefully. Acknowledged,
you know, the power of social media in the Me
Too conversation. But she emphasized that platforms
like that are not the judge and jury. Right.
Her point was that these serious allegations
need to go into court to establish legal facts
and protect people properly. She was basically
advocating for due process over immediate public
verdict. It was quite a measured statement in
a heated moment. And she didn't slow down artistically
after that win either. Carol in 2015. Gorgeous
film. She executive produced and gave that incredibly
nuanced performance, got another Oscar nomination.
Many people consider it one of her absolute best
roles. And then something completely different
again, Manifesto. Oh, Manifesto. That was 2015
as well. Julian Rosefeld's art installation film.
She played 13 different characters. From a homeless
man to a news anchor to a school teacher, each
one delivering lines from famous art manifestos.
It was just pure technical brilliance. The New
York Times called it an absolutely stunning tour
de force, showed she was still hungry for really
experimental, performance -driven work, even
at the absolute peak of her fame. So, Segment
5 takes us into the modern era, say, 2017 to
now. And here we really see her leveraging that
producer role, conquering Broadway, and making
major moves in prestige TV. Right, the stage
power continued. She made her Broadway debut
in 2017. In the present. Based on Chekhov. Earned
her a Tony nomination straight off the bat. Proved
she could command a Broadway stage just as powerfully
as London or Sydney. And then she entered the
Marvel Universe. Yep. 2017. Hela, the goddess
of death in Thor. Ragnarok. Smart move, strategically.
How so? Well, it plants her flag firmly in the
biggest cinematic universe going, ensures she's
relevant to that huge global audience, helps
a film like Ragnarok get critical respect alongside
its massive box office, what was it, $854 million.
Wow. And then she followed that with Ocean's
8 in 2018. Right, the all -female ensemble heist
movie. Her presence just adds a layer of cool,
of gravitas to these big commercial projects.
But the really interesting shift maybe is seeing
her production company, Dirty Films, become a
major force, especially in TV, and connecting
it back to her activism. Exactly. Look at Stateless
in 2020. Australian drama about immigration detention.
She co -created it, executive produced it, had
a guest role. And the inspiration came directly
from her UNHCR work. Explicitly, she said so.
It's a perfect example of using her industry
power, her capital, her platform to create work
that tackles issues she cares deeply about. It's
architecture again. Yeah. Building bridges between
her roles. And in the same year, she does Mrs.
America. Phenomenal series. FX miniseries. She
headlines as Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative
activist who fought against the Equal Rights
Amendment. And she produced it, too. That was
a fascinating choice for her, wasn't it? Playing
someone whose political views seem pretty much
the opposite of her own public stances. Yeah,
requires real skill and empathy to embody that
kind of figure authentically without caricature.
And the critics recognize that. The New York
Times pointed to her final scene, wordless and
devastating. Got nominations for everything,
right? Emmy, Golden Globes, SAG. Yep. Proved
she could dominate prestige TV just as easily
as film. And cementing that power, Dirty Films
now has first look deals with New Republic Pictures
for movies and FX for TV. So they're set up to
keep producing high level stuff across the board.
And here's a stat that really shows her consistent
quality and influence. In 2021, she broke a longstanding
Hollywood record. Oh, yeah. Which one? She starred
in two films nominated for Best Picture that
year, Nightmare Alley and Don't Look Up. Okay.
Doing that meant she surpassed Olivia de Havilland
for the most credited roles by a female actor
and Best Picture nominees ever. Wow. That says
a lot about her choices, doesn't it? It means
the projects she picks, the roles she gets, are
consistently considered among the very best films
being made. Yeah. Year after year. It's not just
acting skill. It's incredible discernment. And
all that leads, almost inevitably, to Tar in
2022. The Tar phenomenon. Playing Lydia Tar,
that fictional, brilliant... deeply flawed conductor,
it became a massive cultural talking point. And
hailed as another career highlight for her. Absolutely.
The Hollywood Reporter called it an astonishing
performance and suggested it might be her greatest.
The technical skill involved learning conducting,
the German language, plus the incredibly complex
exploration of power, genius, cancellation. It
was extraordinary. And the awards followed again.
Fourth Golden Globe, fourth BAFTA. And her eighth
Oscar nomination. Which ties her, I think, fourth
overall for the most nominated actress in history.
She's just operating at this insanely high level
consistently. Okay, so segment six. Let's shift
the focus fully now to her role as a global citizen.
Her activism, her humanitarian work, because
it's clearly not just a side project for her.
It's woven into the fabric of her career. Yeah,
the environmental advocacy goes way back. It's
not a recent thing. She joined Al Gore's Climate
Project in 2006. and became an ambassador for
the Australian Conservation Foundation in 2007,
later got honorary life membership. And she hasn't
shied away from tricky policy stuff either, like
publicly supporting a carbon tax in Australia.
Right, which wasn't universally popular, obviously.
But it shows her commitment isn't just about,
you know, celebrity endorsements. She's willing
to engage in actual political debate. And as
we mentioned, that STC period was key with the
Greening the Wharf project, taking institutional
responsibility. Exactly. Turning advocacy into
action within her own organization. And it's
ongoing since 2020. She's been on the council
for Prince William's Earthshot Prize, trying
to find and fund real environmental solutions.
She even launched her own podcast on it, Climate
of Change. Yeah, in 2022. Dedicating a whole
platform just to talking about the climate crisis.
But interestingly, the sources also mention a
real -world complication here, the Eco House
project in Cornwall. Ah, yes. She and Andrew
Upton are building this sustainable home in Cornwall,
England. But it's caused some local friction,
hasn't it? Yeah, reports in 2023, 2024 about
neighbors objecting to construction noise, the
scale of the development. It's a useful reminder,
isn't it, that even for someone deeply committed
to sustainability, translating those big ideals
into actual on the ground projects can run into
very real, practical community level challenges.
The friction between the vision. and the reality.
Okay, shifting to her humanitarian work. Her
role with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, seems
incredibly significant. It really does. Started
working with them in 2015, appointed a global
goodwill ambassador in 2016. And this involves
serious field work, right? Not just appearances.
Definitely. She's traveled extensively to Jordan,
Lebanon, meeting Syrian refugees, to Bangladesh,
meeting Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar. These
aren't quick visits. They're about understanding
the situation. firsthand and bringing attention
to these crises. And she's used that platform
at the highest levels, addressing the UN Security
Council in 2018. Yeah, about the Rohingya crisis.
That's using her unique position, her global
recognition, to speak directly to world leaders
about atrocities. It's powerful. And she made
it very personal in that speech, didn't she?
She did. She talked about seeing her own children
reflected in the eyes of the refugee children
she met. That ability to connect the global crisis
to a very human parental emotion makes her advocacy
incredibly effective, very relatable. And on
the personal side, just briefly, married to Andrew
Upton since 97. Four kids. Three sons. And they
adopted a daughter in 2015. which she'd apparently
wanted to do for a long time. And there's that
interesting detail. She prefers the term actor
to actress. Yeah, it feels consistent with her
focus on the craft, the technique, rather than
being defined by gender. She's also spoken out
quite a bit about wider issues, hasn't she? Concerns
about like a wave of conservatism affecting women's
rights. And the pressures women face in Hollywood,
the focus on appearance, the idea of a use by
date. She seems willing to critique the system,
even while operating so successfully within it.
All right, let's pull it all together in segment
seven. Style, legacy, and accolades. What's the
overall picture? Well, the consensus is pretty
clear. She's considered one of the absolute finest,
most versatile actors working today. Full stop.
And the technical skill is always mentioned,
especially the accents. Oh, yeah. Her mastery
of accents is legendary. English, Irish. French,
all sorts of American regional dialects. She
seems to have this incredible ear and the technical
discipline to nail almost anything. She can convincingly
belong anywhere, anytime. There was that great
description in Vulture magazine. What was it?
About her key skill. Ah, yeah, that was good.
They said her greatest skill was combining relatability
and elusiveness. Explain that a bit. Like, she
can feel incredibly human. and present in a role,
someone you connect with. But there's often also
something held back, something you can't quite
grasp. It makes your performances really compelling,
keeps you watching. Mesmerizing is a good word.
And the official honors reflect that huge CV,
right? Both in Australia and internationally.
Absolutely. Companion of the Order of Australia,
that's the highest civilian honor back home.
Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in
France. The BFI Fellowship in the UK in 2015.
Sir Ian McKellen presented that one. Right. And
honorary doctorates from three Australian...
universities. So recognition not just from the
film world, but from government, cultural institutions,
academia. And commercially, she's a powerhouse.
Empire magazine put her in their 50 greatest
actors list in 2022. And the box office numbers.
Staggering. As of 2019, her films had grossed
over $9 .8 billion worldwide. That kind of commercial
clout gives you enormous freedom and influence.
And she's clearly not slowing down, still mixing
it up with recent projects like the miniseries
Disclaimer, upcoming stuff like a sci -fi comedy
Alpha Gang, and even heading back to the stage
for Chekhov's The Seagull in 2025. So if you're
trying to summarize this career architecture.
As someone who reached the absolute peak in global
cinema, mastering everything from blockbusters
to intense indie dramas, but simultaneously she
committed deeply to classical theater, even running
a major company, then pivoted seamlessly into
producing and starring in high -end political
television. And threaded through all of that
is this consistent, visible commitment to major
global issues, humanitarian crises, climate change,
using her platform very deliberately. So the
takeaway for you listening, think about that
dual impact. Cate Blanchett's enduring relevance
isn't just about that incredible $9 .8 billion
box office figure. It's equally about how she
has consciously, architecturally applied that
influence to things like the refugee crisis and
climate action. Which leaves us with a final
thought for you to consider. For an actor who
is now so established as a producer, an artistic
director, an activist, where does her most profound
impact lie in the next decade? Is it still primarily
through creating characters on screen? Or is
her most significant legacy now being built by
actively shaping the real world through advocacy,
through leadership, through production choices?
Based on the architecture we've seen, it feels
like that real world shaping might be becoming
the dominant structure. A truly fascinating career
to dissect. Absolutely. A deep dive indeed. Thanks
for diving deep with us today. We'll catch you
next time.