5 reasons why we love Cate Blanchett
Sure, she’s an amazing actress who this month takes on the role of jury president at the Cannes Film Festival, but that’s not the only reason Cate Blanchett is incredible… By GEORGIA SIMMONDS
She’s at the top of her game
Blanchett is the 71st person to be honored with the chairing duties at the Cannes Film Festival, heading up the 2018 panel that includes director Ava DuVernay and actors Kristen Stewart and Léa Seydoux. Sophia Loren, Françoise Sagan, Ingrid Bergman and most recently Jane Campion have all previously taken the chairing role, which recognizes an individual’s extraordinary career in cinema. For unequivocal proof that Blanchett is worthy, see the 13 extraordinary performances she gave in 2016’s Manifesto by Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt. She adopts personas that include a teacher, a newsreader, a homeless man and a punk, and recites manifestos from 60 creative revolutionaries, making you think differently about art and creativity.
Even her awards are unusual…
Blanchett is the only Australian actor to win two Oscars and the only actress ever to be nominated for playing the same character in different movies: Elizabeth I in both 1998’s Elizabeth and 2007’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Plus, her Oscar win for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator set her apart as the first person to win the award for portraying another Oscar winner. What’s more, her Oscar-nominated turn as Bob Dylan in 2007’s I’m Not There made her one of three women to have ever been nominated for an Oscar for portraying a man.
…as is her beauty advice
This tip that Blanchett shared with Australian Vogue necessitates a beauty rethink about how to achieve that elusive glow: “Don’t you find, if you’ve just had sex, or you’ve just had a really great massage, you could go out to dinner without a lick of makeup on, and people go, ‘My God, you look fabulous,’ because you’re relaxed.”
She is a tireless advocate for refugees
In May 2016 Blanchett was named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, and in January 2018 she was awarded the prestigious Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum for her philanthropic work. “There has never been a more crucial time to stand with refugees and show solidarity globally,” she responded. “We all have a desire to connect, and this is what makes us all human. We have a deep vein of compassion, and it feels like as a species we’re at a fork in the road – do we go down the compassionate path, or do we go down the path of intolerance? And I know, as a mother, I want my children to go down the compassionate path. There’s much more opportunity, there’s much more optimism and there is a solution down that path. There is no solution down the path of intolerance.”
Last but not least, she’s part of the new Ocean’s 8 gang
The film’s brilliant female cast includes Sandra Bullock, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, Anne Hathaway and Sarah Paulson, making Blanchett even more wonderful by association. “I’ve never had that strong a female contingent in a film, and it was just…heaven. I love them all so much,” Blanchett said recently. “We laughed so much, and there was a real camaraderie. It’s one of those things where I can’t wait for it come out, selfishly, so I can go on the press tour with them and reunite with everyone.” Indeed, last December, Paulson revealed to PorterEdit that the eight actresses had set up a WhatsApp group: “I’m not going to lie, it is a very cool chain to be part of… Your phone just blows up for hours.” What we wouldn’t give to hack it.
The 2018 Cannes Film Festival runs from May 8 to May 19. Ocean’s 8 is in cinemas June 8
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