Cate Blanchett was born 14 May, 1969 in Melboure, Victoria. Her mother, June, was a property developer and teacher, and her father, Robert, was a former Navy Officer working as an advertising executive. Cate Blanchett’s father died from a heart attack when she was ten years old, she went to highschool at Methodist Ladies’ College where she discovered her passion for acting. At eighteen years old, whilst holidaying in Egypt, Cate Blanchett was asked to be an extra in the film Kaboria. Upon her return to Australia, she moved to Sydney to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), from which she graduated in 1992 before beginning her career in theatre.

In 1993, Cate Blanchett had her first major stage role in the play Oleanna, in which she starred alongside Geoffrey Rush. She won a Sydney Theatre Critics Best Newcomer Award for her performance and later went on to receive the role of Ophelia in the stage show Hamlet. Cate Blanchett made her film debut in 1997 as an Australian nurse in the film Paradise Road. She then starred in Oscar and Lucinda, and was nominated for an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award. The same year she co-starred in Thank God He Met Lizzie, and won an AFI as Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

In 1998, Cate Blanchett received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the film Elizabeth. She didn’t win the Academy Award, however she won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for Best Actress. One of Cate Blanchett’s biggest hits was The Lord of the Rings series, in which she played the role of Galadriel. She also starred alongside Leonardo Di Caprio in The Aviator, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2006, Cate Blanchett starred alongside Brad Pitt in Babel, and alongside Dame Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal, earning herself several Academy Award nominations. She later starred in I’m Not There, portraying Bob Dylan. Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton are also artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company.