7th Time the Charm for Cate & Kate
Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 10:11AM Murtada here to celebrate the nominations for Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet. It's the 7th nomination for both. Blanchett for Best Actress in Carol and Winslet for supporting actress in Steve Jobs. (Which means they're both moving up that Oscar Hierarchy) .
The two have always been linked since they have (essentially) the same name and started winning the hearts of cinephiles around the same time in the mid 90s.
Although younger by 6 years it was Winslet who first made a splash in Heavenly Creatures (1994) and received her first Oscar nomination a year later for Sense and Sensibility (1995). Three years after that Blanchett announced herself as a force to be reckoned with - and got her first nomination - with Elizabeth (1998).
Winslet’s other nominations are for Titanic (1997), Iris (2001), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006) and The Reader (2008). Blanchett’s are The Aviator (2004), Notes on Scandal (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), I’m Not There (2007) and Blue Jasmine (2013).
Let’s have fun with 7 anecdotes after the jump...
1- They used to be mistaken for each other
For a long time Cate’s go- to anecdote was that people always tell her how much they loved her in Titanic. She hasn’t told that anecdote in years so we assume that both are so famous now that it doesn’t happen anymore.
However, most brilliantly, even Faye Dunaway couldn’t tell them apart. In this 2007 interview Cate tells that funny story, it’s the very first minute of the interview and it’s delightful.
2 - They Like Each Other!
Their friendship is not as deep as Nicole/Naomi or even Meryl/Viola, doesn’t burn hot as newly established twosomes Amy/JLaw or Julianne/Kristin. But whenever they took time from their busy lives on opposite sides of the world, they seemed to really enjoy each other's company.
3- They've worked with the same directors
Their crossover director list has four names. British theater director Richard Eyre directed them both to Oscar nominations in Iris and Notes on a Scandal. Peter Jackson, who gifted the world with Kate in Heavenly Creatures, has of course directed Cate in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Then there's Steven Soderbergh. Kate starred in Contagion (2011) and while The Good German (2006) is not fondly remembered, Cate looked absolutely her most beautiful in its black and white cinematography. Till Carol that is. And this year's 6 time nominee brings us to the other director they share; Todd Haynes. He has directed Cate twice - first in 2007’s I’m Not There - and Kate once in HBO's Mildred Pierce (2011).
In this video from the The Hollywood Reporter roundtable Cate is asked if Carol should’ve been directed by a woman. Her response is funny and funnier still is Kate, from across the table confirming that yes she too has worked with a genius.
4- Leo!
While Kate will always be linked to him because of Titanic, it was Cate who was by his side when he was nominated a decade ago for The Aviator. Of course Leo didn’t win but Cate did. It would be fantastic if one or both join him in the winners’ photo this year.
5- So different on screen!
They represent very different aesthetics on screen. Cate is frosty glamour (Carol, The Good German, Galadriel), sometimes teetering close to completely losing it (Blue Jasmine, Truth). Kate on the other hand is earthy sexiness (Hideous Kinky, The Reader) coupled with matronly concern (Mildred Pierce, Steve Jobs) which is why they are ….
6 - …..never up for the same roles…..
….. except for the upcoming Triple Nine. When we first heard about it, it was going to be Blanchett but actually stars Winslet.
7- They are both chasing Meryl
And not just in Oscar nominations count, for the title of the ultimate best actress. As the media likes to anoint successors, they have both been branded “The Next Meryl”. Blanchett is on a tear since Blue Jasmine and seems to be much adored and loved by actors, including the mighty Charlotte Rampling. Kate has stumbled a bit post her Oscar win but this new nomination is a correction to a pretty brilliant career.
Best Actress nominee Saoirse Ronan obviously can’t choose, but can you?
What is your favorite moment of Cate and Kate.
Reader Comments (53)
Their nomination record is identical.
4 Best Actress Nominations
3 Best Supporting Nominations
Happy for both. There was a sense that Kate may never get nominated again after her win so I am glad that didn't happen
team Blanchett here
Both exactly split in nods for Lead/Supporting as well
Cate: 4 Best Actress (98, 07, 13, 15), 3 Best Supporting Actress (04, 06, 07)
Kate: 4 Best Actress (97, 04, 06, 08), 3 Best Supporting Actress (95, 01, 15)
Globes and BAFTA stats start to vary. Although both have scored double nods with BAFTA within years of each other: Kate 04, Cate 07.
So happy for both. I wish kate win and then mention rickman in her speech
Cate and Kate are my favourites. Their talent, their beauty, their choices, their personalities, I could go on.
My favourite Cate is current Cate, Blue Jasmine and then 2015, Cinderella, Truth and Carol, amazing.
My favourite Kate is Eternal Sunshine, closely followed by 2008, with Revolutionary Roas and The Reader, also amazing.
I'd love for them to win, regardless of my love for them, I genuinely think they're the best in their categories (apart from possibly Rooney in Kate's).
Cats and Kate forever.
BTW are we gonna get a full play-by-play of that delicious Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable since the full vid came out a couple days ago? I watched it yesterday and was thoroughly enchanted. They avoided the usual dumb questions and Larson and JLaw came off so well.
Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan did a lovely "actors on actors" interview for Variety - well worth checking out. I like the fact that Blanchett & Winslet represent different sensibilities. Both have great talent and are respected by their colleagues.
I wouldn't mind watching Winslet win that Supporting Actress Oscar one little bit.
Yeah that Roundtable was the best ever. I hope this is a new trend where actresses in different ages are invited
You can tell how much respect Fonda has for Blanchett. And how much respect Brie, Carey and Jennifer have for the more experience ones
Carey Mulligan is very beautiful. I must say
Blanchett can talk for hours and I would never be tired of listening to her.
I like that Winslet mention the money thing. Is not a very European thing to do. To talk about your money with the press. It is kind of vulgar
May Cate/ Kate reign for ever! I wonder how many Oscar noms they will get in the future?
I truly believe that both of them is getting another win. But Winslet is not getting a third one like Blanchett.
I used to think Winslet was the best K/Cate, but this combo of Blue Jasmine/Truth/Cinderella/Carol just blew me mind.
I've never loved Blanchett more than these last years, in spite of the fact the I adore some of her performances (The Aviator, I'm Not There). I used to love every performance of Winslet, but lately (post her finely deserving turn in The Reader, she's been leaving cold). Haven't seen Steve Jobs yet.
And if Winslet wins this year (a possibility, but likelihood decreased with Mara's nomination this morning), they will each have one lead and one supporting Oscar.
^ Yessssss, it was so good. The best since HBC and The Bening threw major side eye in the 2010 one.
Ditto on Blanchett, she can go on for hours and I wouldn't care. Fonda and Winslet too.
Cal Roth: That combo is to die for!
Unfortunately Blanchett is gonna take a short break for leading roles and return to the theater. I think she also wants to spend more time with her daughter Edith. During her acceptance speech at the Palm Springs Festival, she said that her experience with Carol, sat the bar very high for future projects
Other actors in the 7th Oscar nominations club:
Ingrid Bergman: 7 noms with 3 wins, 2 wins in leading and 1 win in supporting
Jane Fonda: 7 noms with 2 wins in leading
Dustin Hoffman: 7 noms with 2 wins in leading
Cate Blanchett: 7 noms with 2 wins in leading and supporting
Robert De Niro: 7 noms with 2 wins in leading and supporting
Kate Winslet: 7 noms with 1 win in leading
Robert Duvall: 7 noms with 1 win in leading
Greer Garson: 7 noms with 1 win in leading
Judi Dench: 7 noms with 1 win in supporting
Richard Burton: 7 noms
Aw. I think Alan Rickman would be so pleased for Kate.
There is ONE huge difference between Meryl and the Cate/Kate.
Cate/Kate are usually doing the same role (or identical roles) while Meryl is really a chameleon. So, nope..
Kate is my favorite actress along with Dame Judi. I've been cold on Blanchett for a long time, but, as many have already said, this couple of years has been something to take notice of. Now I love them both as actresses but Kate is my baby :)
(I had read that Kate was likely to play Cate's role in Robin Hood.)
Also, Mildred Pierce is a 2011 show :)
If I had to give Cate Blanchett one Leading and one Supporting Actress Oscar Win it would go like this:
Best Actress - Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actress - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition)
Yavor: Why do you like her so much in the LOTR movies? She is good and mesmerizing but not nomination worthy if you ask me
Best Actress: Blue Jasmine
Best Supporting Actress: I'm Not There
My favorite Winslet performance is still Heavenly Creatures
These women are three nominations shy of joining Bette Davis at ten nominations. Although both could also surpass her. Blanchett's third Oscar is inevitable. Her wait will be closer to Day-Lewis' than Streep's.
As much as these two are paired together for comparison, they are quite dissimilar from each other. I can't imaginie one ever tackling any of the other's roles and being totally successful at it because their skill sets are so uniquely "them."
I love them both, but I think my affection is slightly skewed more in favor of Cate due to her continued pursuit of work on stage. There aren't enough actors who regularly go between theatre and film (especially American film actors, who generally lack theatre training), and being able to do both makes their work so much the richer.
The nomination gap between "The Reader" and "Steve Jobs" may have helped restore her in the eyes of Oscar fanatics. I think she would be a deserving winner this year.
For Cate Blanchett
Best actress-Blue Jasmine
Best supporting actress-Notes on a Scandal (yes, it's category fraud, but she was amazing!)
More Streep comparisons :(.... Only 12 more nominations to go... Or 13 when Streep is nominated next year
I think Winslet is more approachable as a human being. I see her as friendly like Sandra Bullock. Blanchett for all her brilliance drinks from the same well of evil that Streep does.
I've always been more in C's corner than K's. I'm not into what I call the "breathy" Winslet roles like Mildred Pierce and Steve Jobs, though I love it when she does something more modern like Eternal Sunshine or the episode of Extras. Though I'm also not a fan of straight up impression work from C like The Aviator. Favorite C: tough between Blue Jasmine and Carol. Favorite K: Eternal Sunshine.
Too bad neither of them were able to carry their movies with them this year. :(
3rtful - I have to admit, that made me laugh.
I was a bigger fan of Cate until this year... but I loved Kate's performance in Steve Jobs. Now she's probably the Oscar nominee that I'm rooting for the most. I'm glad it turned out well for her, since she apparently really sought out the role.
@ Manuel, I guess because Galadriel is the more memorable/unique role in the sense that:
- she's a creature from outer space placed in a world (Middle Earth) that is outer space to begin with (multi-platinum certificate and we've only just started)
- she owns the role so completely, with Dylan you see the effort (which is normal and you'd see it with any actor, but you see the effort)
- it's totally Shakespearean and unique
- that descent down the stairs, the monologue, the gifts of Galadriel scene (especially)
Playing Bob Dylan can't possibly make you more unique, I know, yet the Galadriel scenes in LOTR are the ones I return to most often. It's like therapy.
When it comes to Meryl I can't really call her a greater chameleon than Blnachett, her Aussie was not flawless and her Polish was not very believable. She raised the bar, she's a genius but she's a human being. She also hasn't truly impressed me since Julie & Julia. Both have played men, yes, and when I started watching Angels in America (having read absolutely nothing about the show in advance) I knew the rabbi at the beginning was Meryl Streep (and, at that time, I had seen only a limited number of Meryl Streep films).
Blanchett has a deeper filmography than Winslet. You have to remember, she didn't become a default nominee until her twofer in 2007. Before that she made Veronica Guerin, Little Fish, The Good German, Coffee and Cigarettes, Heaven, Bandits, The Talented Mr. Ripley and more. People were calling her the greatest (and then, the most underrated) actress of her generation before The Aviator even happened.
Factor in her stage work (which includes the raviest raves you can write) and it's really no contest for me. Winslet is talented and she's been duly recognized for it—I'm not here to complain about the acclaim she's received, but I think it reflects her achievements pretty appropriately. Blanchett has upwards of a dozen Oscar-caliber achievements (across mediums) that deepen her ouevre.
A dozen OTHER* Oscar-calibre achievements
They are tied now with Greer Garson.
I have n't checked if someone has already mentioned this but the BIG connection between the C/Kates is that they have the same agent Hylda Queally at CAA.
James T - corrected, thanks!
Troy H - I agree they are very different... it's my #5 point.
I think there are different kinds of chameleons, those that throw impressive filters over their already strong stage/screen presence and those that change from the core and radiate outward. I'd say someone like Judi Dench and Blanchett are the former, able to expertly shift the direction of their intensity, whereas I think Winslet falls more in the Tilda Swinton camp, someone who becomes a character from the inside out, which is why she can be a firecracker like Clementine or Marianne, and all the other roles that people love the most, or a somewhat normal, realistic, even at times dull character like Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, and all the other roles that most prefer to pass on. Meryl, in a category all her own, might very well be a bit of both. I'm never bored with Blanchett or Dench because I happen to like their inner cores quite a bit, but I'm never be as impressed as when Winslet or Swinton just completely inhabit another soul.
While Blanchett has this mystique aura with great fashion sense and intelligence, Winslet is the girl next door with a sweet smile and softest laughter ever
I prefer Blanchett because of her outstanding work in both film and theatre. The way she talks about her craft, is inspirational to listen to. Whereas Winslet is approachable and sweet in her way of being
Yavor: I agree. I can't imagine other actresses taking on the Galadriel role. Blanchett owns it and she is so elegant and as you said, Shakespearian. Every single move is Godess esque and pure fire works for our souls and senses.
Winslet's best performance remains Eternal Sunshine. I believe she cites it as her best and favorite performance. One role like that does not make one a chameleon she rose to the challenge. I wish she would be challenged like that again.
Swinton's work should not be compared to other actresses because she's not concern with the acting as she is in inhabiting character.
Streep, Blanchett, and Chastain are all in the same category style wise. Although Chastain is suffering from lack of attention and juggernaut material.
The years in between helped a lot,Blanchett's lack of love/activity from 08 - 12 helped the appreciation for the BlueJ turn and Winslets 6 year gap has helped cos when they are good they are really good,I still think Winslet wins this years Oscar.
Streep & Blanchett get compared a lot because they're known for performances that tend to border on caricaturistic. As Katharine Hepburn once famously said about Streep's tendency to telegraph her subtlety: "click, click, click." Funny, considering that Blanchett threw down a straightforward impression of Kate to nab her first Oscar. I don't view it as a huge mark against either actress, though, and I think Blanchett particularly has the ability to look completely natural in a nuanced performance.
My favorite performances of theirs, by some distance, are in Jude (Winslet) and Oscar & Lucinda (Blanchett). It's sad that neither of these films ever seems to be mentioned in discussions of their bodies of work.
Adore both. Very smart, interesting and appealing actresses. I have no problem putting them both up there with Meryl Streep and Bette Davis as great film actresses who will have long and interesting careers. It's great that they were both nominated today.
Charlotte Rampling raving about Blanchett
You often do contemporary work, more so than period pieces.
I’ve done a few. I did “The Duchess,” with Keira Knightley. Certainly some actors I’m just amazed by the amount of work that they do, and I think, “My God.” I feel quite humbled.
Who are you thinking of when you say that?
Cate Blanchett. She was in Los Angeles and we were doing a round table and I was just amazed. I just looked her up again on Google to see what she’s done. And she runs a family, she runs a theater, she’s done all these incredible films around the world, she just never stops and she’s so attractive and she’s so present. She’s like superwoman.
This is my favourite moment of Cate and Kate: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1Ssoxfl0MvQ/Sb4PZWfUgsI/AAAAAAAAIuA/Y9dwEo97UMI/s400/silly11_katecate.jpg
Totally adorkable.
EZ - so very cute
The Daily Mail article about Blanchett, Winslet and Streep
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3399554/Cate-Blanchett-earns-sixth-Oscars-nod-Kate-Winslet-chalks-number-seven-battle-Meryl-Streep.html
This basically sums up the Blanchett-Winslet-Streep dynamics....Kate Winslet once said -
“I’ve heard the Meryl Streep comparison about Cate Blanchett, and I believe it to be absolutely correct and an extremely adequate thing to say about Cate.”
Jason Cooper - completely agree on those two performances! i fell hard for both k(c)ates in the '90s and feel like both shaped my love for acting and film. both have a special place in my heart.
Now when are the two of them going to work together in a film and each get their 8th nominations....
abstew -- 1992 was the year I well and truly fell in love with cinema, so the remainder of the 90s were really my formative period. Winslet and Blanchett and Emily Watson were it and then some for me. They've since been joined by Cotillard and Chastain. But yes: Jude and Oscar & Lucinda were jaw-droppers, the best films in their respective years, in my view, and those performances are two of the finest I've ever seen.
How nice will it be if they both win come Oscar nite!! But I guess Blanchett is the bridesmaid this time while Winslet stands a good chance (If she can tear thru' tt Mara & Vikander's BIGGER part)
IMO, Cate was totally deserving of her 2 wins (I'll add Elizabeth too, she shld've won for that & joined Bergman and Streep at the 3-times Oscar winners' table). Kate was v good & deserving of her win in The Reader too, but among her nominations, my fav is Little Children, follow by Eternal Sunshine
Check out Cate B's actors on actors with Ian McKellen - totally drool worthy. I especially like the bit when he referred to their first met in middle earth and she commented on what a wonderful place to meet.
*bit where he referred to their first meeting