EXCLUSIVE: Screen Queen! 10 Things You (Probably) Never Knew About Cate Blanchett — Including How Shaving Her Head Got Her Fired From Nursing Home Job
Cate Blanchett's movie roles may be well known, but here are 10 little known facts about the actress.
April 8 2025, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Cate Blanchett has captivated audiences for years, most recently in Steve Sonderbergh's 2025 spy thriller Black Bag.
She has won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 2005's The Aviator and took home the golden statue for Best Actress for 2014's Blue Jasmine, in addition to receiving six other nominations.
While her on-screen success may be common knowledge, RadarOnline.com can reveal 10 little known facts about the Australian actress.
Australian-born Blanchett's father was from Texas and served in the US Navy.
Blanchett, 55, may have been born and raised in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe, but her father, Robert DeWitt Blanchett Jr., was a Texas-born US Navy Chief Petty Officer.
Her father met her mother, June, by chance when his ship broke down in Melbourne.
As a child, Blanchett confessed she would knock on neighbors' doors and pretend to be looking for her dog so she could be invited inside for snacks. She also despises the color green because it reminds her of her old school uniform.
After her father died of a heart attack when she was 10-years-old, Blanchett couldn't leave the house without giving everyone a proper goodbye/
When she was 10-years-old, her father died of a heart attack, leaving her mother to raise the actress, her older brother and younger sister alone.
On the day he died, the Tár star recalled: "I was playing the piano. He walked past the window. I waved goodbye."
Tragically, Blanchett was not able to give her father a hug goodbye, which left a lasting impact on the star.
She added: "I developed this ritual where I couldn't leave the house until I could actually physically say goodbye to everyone."
At age 15, Blanchett was almost fired from her job at a nursing home after she shaved her head.
Five years later, when Blanchett was 15-years-old, she made the daring the decision to shave her head – and she was nearly fired from her job at a nursing home because of it.
Blanchett got a bite from the acting bug when she was 18-years-old and on vacation in Egypt.
She was asked to be an extra in the 1990 Egyptian boxing film Kaboria. The future A-lister was in three scenes and was featuring dancing to the movie's main song; however, Blanchett wasn't a fan of the experience and ultimately walked away from the project.
Blanchett kept her prosthetic ears from 'The Lord of the Rings.'
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Blanchett didn't give up on acting, though – and before she landed roles in critically acclaimed movies, she was known as "The Tim Tam Girl" in a series of commercials promoting the Australian cookie.
She is also the only actress to be nominated for Oscars for the same role in different movies. She first played Queen Elizabeth II in 1998's Elizabeth and again in 2007's Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
The actress is additionally the only star to win an Oscar for playing another Oscar-winner, a record she earned for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator.
She has been married to playwright Andrew Upton since 1997. Together the couple share four children – Dashiell, Roman, Edith, and Ignatius.
Blanchett confessed Upton has a keepsake – her pointy ears – from her time playing Queen of the Elves Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.
The star admitted: "To be honest, I basically did it so that I could have the ears. They're not full ears, either – they're little prosthetic tips that fit on the tops of your ears to make the point. But they're cute – and a bit weird."
