by Nathaniel R
As promised Wednesday mornings are for Oscar trivia! With Where'd You Go Bernadette in theaters, let's dive into Blanchett-related Oscar trivia. While it's true that no one is clamoring for Bernadette to be an Oscar contender, and Cate Blanchett is actually under some criticism for her performance for a surprise twist, any excuse is a good one for Oscar trivia. Yes? Yes! We shall approach the Blanchett Oscar trivia in three questions after the jump.
1. Who has the most similar track record to Cate Blanchett at the Oscars?
Jane Fonda with her second Oscar (and Shirley Maclaine)
Cate Blanchett has had 7 Oscar nominations, 4 in leading and 3 in supporting (though one of those "supporting" roles was a true lead (Notes on a Scandal), something that's totally driving up nomination tallies for modern stars in relation to their predecessors). From those 7 nominations she's won twice, first in supporting (The Aviator) and then in lead (Blue Jasmine). The most similar Oscar track records is... drum roll please... well, this depends on how you want to compare them. The answer is either JANE FONDA, MAGGIE SMITH, KATE WINSLET or GLENN CLOSE.
Jane Fonda, like Blanchett, has had 7 nominations with 2 wins but apart from a nod for On Golden Pond (1981) she was always competing in lead. No category fraud ever in that career. Maggie Smith has one less nomination than Cate but like the Australian goddess she has won in both of the categories. But if you're going by nominations only Kate Winslet and Glenn Close are the exact matches. They each have the same split (4 leading and 3 supporting) though neither has won twice. (Shush, do not remind us that Glenn Close hasn't even won once. Shut up already!)
We realize this is an insane question but which of those four do you consider closest to Blanchett in career spirit, screen presence, and star persona?
2. Given "Bernadette," What is Cate Blanchett's Oscar Track Record Playing Title Characters?
Cate Blanchett as "Veronica Guerin"
Of Cate Blanchett's seven nominations, more than half come from playing titular characters! That's Elizabeth (1998), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Blue Jasmine (2013), and Carol (2015). Is this common? No, it is definitely not common! But it happens more with men than with women. For instance, Dustin Hoffman also has more than half of his seven nominations coming from title characters. But just for fun we looked up a few Oscar favourite female stars. Only 7 of Meryl's 21 nominations come as titular characters. Interestingly, Jane Fonda, who so closely matches Blanchett in Oscar stats, has never been nominated playing a titular character. Klute and Julia, for instance, were the names of other actor's characters in those movies. Only 2 of Glenn Close and Bette Davis's nominations come from title characters, and only 1 from the Oscar-darling careers of other female powerhouses like Maggie Smith, Jessica Lange, Julianne Moore, and Kate Winslet.
Blanchett has played quite a lot of titular characters. In addition to the four Oscar nominated performances listed above she also headlined Oscar & Lucinda, Veronica Guerin, Charlotte Gray, and Where'd You Go Bernadette. That's 8 out of her 49 features, or 8 out of 44 if you lump all the Middle Earth franchise films into one.
3. What does the future hold for Cate Blanchett with Oscar?
Cate at a screening of Where'd You Go Bernadette
Cate turned 50 years old earlier this summer... and unfortunately that often means Oscar starts looking the other way. For multiple reasons the fifty-something years are hard on actresses. The leading roles start drying up (though it used to be the fortysomething years so...progress... baby steps) but they aren't yet old enough for the juicy old-lady roles (that now go to people like Mirren, Dench, Streep, and Smith.) Only 10% of supporting actress Oscars go to women in their fifties and Best Actress is much much worse with only two fiftysomething winners in Oscar's entire 91 year history: Shirley Booth in Comeback Little Sheba and Julianne Moore in Still Alice (coincidentally, they were both 54). But if she ever makes that Lucille Ball biopic that's been on her "to do list" for four years now, Oscar will probably have her back regardless.
Lately Cate the great has been halfheartedly threatening to retire but we don't think she will. Actual retirement for famous movie stars is fairly rare. Unless they're named Gene Hackman or Greta Garbo someone always lures them back. Those that do retire tend to just be on prolongued hiatus and pop up here and there (think Julie Christie, Warren Beatty, or Michelle Pfeiffer, maybe Jack Nicholson... we'll see).
Cate's Oscar-Nominated Performances Ranked
- Blue Jasmine (2013) -- a performance so great it should have won two Oscars
- Carol (2015)
- I'm Not There (2007)
- The Aviator (2004)
- Elizabeth (1998)
- Notes on a Scandal (2006) ... category fraud alert. so rude. But such a weird year in general for supporting actress.
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)... had absolutely no business being nominated!
Best of Cate's Oscar-Ignored Performances
with Matt Damon in "The Talented Mr Ripley"
- The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)
- Heaven (2002)
- The Man Who Cried (2000)