Monday, May 14th marked the 43rd birthday of the great, Academy Award-winning actress, Cate Blanchett. Catherine Élise Blanchett was born in Melbourne, Australia, where she studied acting, fine arts, and economics before moving to Sydney, where she graduated in 1992 from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Read more about Cate Blanchett and list your Circuit 3 after the jump…
Blanchett appeared in small roles both on-screen and on-stage before landing her first big supporting role in Bruce Beresford’s film, Paradise Road (1997), alongside Glenn Close and Frances McDormand. Later that year she would land her first lead role in Gillian Armstrong’s version of Oscar and Lucinda, opposite Ralph Fiennes. Her star-making performance came the following year when she landed the titular role in Elizabeth, for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. While she would go on to lose the Oscar to Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love), Blanchett still managed to pick up the BAFTA and the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.
In 2001, she would take on the beloved role of the Elf-Queen Galadriel in all three of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films. This is where I, and many others I’m sure, fell in love with the actress.
In 2004 Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as Katherine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, thus becoming the first Oscar winner to ever win for playing a previous Oscar winner. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2006 for playing a teacher having an affair with one of her young students in Richard Eyre’s Notes on a Scandal. In 2007, she would earn double nominations for I’m Not There (Supporting) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Lead). That year she became the first female to be nominated twice for the same role (Elizabeth, 1998; Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 2007).
This year she is slated to appear in two films: An untitled project formerly titled Lawless, directed by Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, directed by Peter Jackson, where she will reprise her role as Galadriel.
My Circuit 3 for Cate Blanchett:
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) (Yes, I look at them as one film. We can have that debate another time.)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
What are your Circuit 3? You can view Cate Blanchett’s entire filmography here.
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Tags: Cate Blanchett, circuit 3, The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Lord of the Rings
13 Comments













My 3 favorite performances of hers would be:
1. I’m Not There
2. The Aviator
3. Notes on a Scandal
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
She is so great in I’m Not There. Really showed off her versatility, perhaps more than anything else she has done. Big fan.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
I don’t always love her work like most do, but that’s easily her career best to me…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
1. Notes On a Scandal
2. Veronica Guerin
3. The Aviator
Bradley(Quote) (Reply)
I’m one of the very few who couldn’t stand her in “I’m Not There,” but I couldn’t stand the movie either so go figure.
My top 3 is:
1. LOTR trilogy
2. The Aviator
3. Babel (even though her and Brad had the weakest subplot)
Joseph Braverman(Quote) (Reply)
Elizabeth
I’m Not There
The Aviator
John Rivera(Quote) (Reply)
1. Elizabeth
2. The Aviator
3. Little Fish
Alex King(Quote) (Reply)
1. Notes on a Scandal
2. The Aviator
3. Elizabeth
Clayton Davis(Quote) (Reply)
1. I’m Not There
2. Bandits
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Robbie(Quote) (Reply)
By the way, I’m loving these Circuit 3 articles. It’s very intersting to see what everybody picks when limited to only three choices.
Robbie(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks Robbie. Glad you are enjoying them. I too love seeing all the different opinions.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Such a great actress. My top 3 would be:
1. The Aviator
2. I’m Not There (she was just about the only thing I enjoyed about that movie!)
3. Elizabeth
Daniel Ashtiany(Quote) (Reply)
1. The Aviator(2004)
2. Elizabeth (1998)
3. Little Fish (2005)
Sam(Quote) (Reply)