Cate Blanchett AC (b. 1969), actor and humanitarian, graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and the following year received a Sydney Theatre Critics' Circle award for the Sydney Theatre Company's Kafka Dances. Blanchett starred in Australian theatre, film and television shows before her breakout film Elizabeth (1998), for which she won her first Golden Globe. She won Academy Awards for Aviator (2004) and Blue Jasmine (2013), which also earned her a Golden Globe. A leading advocate for the arts in Australia, Blanchett was joint artistic director of the STC with her husband Andrew Upton from 2008 to 2013 and won worldwide accolades for her performances in productions including Uncle Vanya in New York. A Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Blanchett co-created the 2020 ABC drama Stateless, about Australia's immigration detention centres.
Photographer Sage captured this image of Blanchett in 1998, when she was on the cusp of international fame. As Sage noted in the 1999 National Portrait Gallery exhibition, Glossy: 'My favourite subject was Cate Blanchett. It was a very special day where we shot completely alone, no make-up, no stylists, or assistants … the shoot was done on the steps of her flat after chatting over tea at her kitchen table about her trip to the US.'
Gift of the artist 1999
© Sage
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