WHY WE LOVE CATE

By Jenny Cullen.

The acting world may be at her feet, but Cate Blanchett takes all the adoration coolly.

Cate Blanchett is a chameleon. One minute she's white-faced and imperious in red wig and ruffs as England's Virgin Queen. The next, sweeping into the Oscars, she's radiantly beautiful;, the hands-down knockout belle of the ball. then suddenly she's switched again and, with big boobs, tight Capri pants, a scad of gold jewellery and big hair, she's an American housewife addicted to shopping in the black comedy "Pushing Tin" which is America's newest hit comedy.

No sooner do you get used to that, than she's into another role which has the London critics raving. Currently on stage in the West End in the revival of David Hare's play "Plenty", Cate, the winner of Britain's BAFTA Best Actress award, has garnered as many plaudits as fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman, who turned the West End on its ear with her sizzling London stage debut in another play, "The Blue Room".

The theatre is where Cate first made her name and, after making three films back to back, she is excited about her return to the stage, which she admits remains her passion.

"People talk about gossamer days when they first met the love of their life; the same thing happens in theatre," she says. "Each night, 300 or 400 people are going to see something that's only going to happen once. It's a bit like a cloudscape - never exactly the same."

In "Plenty", Cate plays Susan Traherne, a fictional ex-special operations executive whose wartime activities make her a liability to her civil servant husband. Susan's mental instability and frustrations are a metaphor for Britain's post-war struggles through to the mid-60s.

"I love the rehearsal time theatre offers," Cate says, "Depth happens in film, but it can't be recreated or worked on as it can in theatre."

When Cate appeared at the Academy Awards as hot favourite for her role in "Elizabeth", only to miss out to Gwyneth Paltrow in another Shakespearean hit, "Shakespeare in Love", she seemed genuinely thrilled for Gwyneth, and it was this warmth that had Hollywood at Cate's feet. Whether she was charming them on David Letterman's late night talk show in a simple grey skirt and black jumper, or stealing the show in her Galliano gown at the Oscars (a gown she promptly donated to an AIDS charity auction to raise money for research), Cate has proved that she's a winner with or without awards.

At just 29, with a career that began only seven years ago when she switched from art history and economics to drama school and NIDA, Cate is now being tipped to become one of the great actresses of the era.

As Gillian Armstrong, her friend and director in "Oscar And Lucinda", says, "She's a world-class champion. She has the intelligence and the craft, and she's brave - she'll always push herself. She's adorable as well, and fun to work with.

Cate is tall and slender, with a face that's beautifully serene - until she smiles, when suddenly you notice with surprise her sprinkling of freckles and the laughter in those deep blue eyes.

For all the praise, Cate remains remarkably unswayed by the sudden heat. It is partly because of her intelligence and maturity; partly because of her best friend, support and the love of her life, husband Andrew Upton, a screenwriter.

"I have rarely seen a husband so supportive of his wife's success," says Shekar Kapur. "Cate is one of the luckiest girls to have Andrew." Cate, reluctant to discuss her private life, politely tells interviewers at the outset that her family and husband are private people and would they mind not asking questions about them. But, like most women in love, she can't help mentioning Andrew, describing him as "the most grounded man I know, with his head in the stars".

During the making of "Elizabeth" they were separated for four months, which was painful. Cate loves that Andrew's scripts now allow him to be with her on the road. "We're still newlyweds," she smiles. "People assume it's hubris if you say, well I would like to go home and cook dinner for my husband. But that's what I love, and now we're back in London there's something really grounding about having your own kitchen and opening your own tins of tomatoes."

While she is currently based in London, with Hollywood calling, Cate insists Australia will remain her home. "I happen to be someone who loves 23-hour flights," she says. "nobody can contact you and you can sit and read and catch up with things."

But the flight home looks like some time off. Since making "Elizabeth" and playing the shopaholic housewife in "Pushing Tin", she has done a cameo role in "The Talented Mr. Ripley", a film based on thriller writer Patricia Highsmith's noel, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Jude Law. Her most recent movie is the latest film version of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband", with Minnie Driver and Rupert Everett. Her stage appearance in "Plenty" followed.

"I like to get stretched," she says. "You forget yourself, and that's good."
Being an actor rather than a star is what Cate Blanchett is all about. So what role would she love to play above all others? "A female Hamlet," she says, grinning. "Failing that, I think the only other role I've ever really coveted is Lucy in the musical "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown".

The Australian Woman's Weekly, June 1999.

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Aussie Cate Online © 1999 Lin, Dean, Lance
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