LOS ANGELES, May 31 ― From “Elizabeth” and “Bandits” to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “The Aviator”, “Babel”, and most recently “Blue Jasmine”, Cate Blanchett has proven herself a superb dramatic actress. Her ability to play a wide range of roles has made her an audience favourite; someone moviegoers can count on to deliver a great performance.

Cate grew up in Australia with an Aussie mother and a Texan father and so she was exposed to a range of cultures. When the future star was merely 10 years old, her father passed away, leaving her mother to take care of not only Cate, but also a younger sister and older brother. Her first taste of acting came when she joined a drama group at her Methodist College, playing small roles in small-time plays.

At the University of Melbourne, Blanchett began studying art history before she decided to continue her education abroad. After spending some time in England, she did some traveling in Egypt, where she was asked to be an extra in a boxing movie being shot nearby. The next day she found herself in a busy crowd scene enthusiastically cheering during a boxing match. And many roles followed, both in film and theatre.

Cate isn't one to sit still and do nothing. Aside from her job as an actress, she also enjoys producing and directing. Not to mention she's the face of several beauty brands, including Giorgio Armani. The statuesque beauty can be seen in both print and TV ads for the women's fragrances of the brand.

And we can also admire her beauty on the red carpet. Cate often turns up at events and premieres to promote her work and is loved for her varied style.

She is a firm Alexander McQueen lover. In 2010, the actress wore a dress on the red carpet in Cannes, which he'd personally selected for her before his death. The silver and black creation features an eagle in flight and was adored by the fashion critics. 

When hitting the red carpet during the Golden Globes in 2014 she looked as elegant as ever in gorgeous lace Armani dress. And for the Oscars a month later Blanchett wowed the crowd in a soft gold gown of the same brand.

Also in 2014, Cate attended the Cannes Film Festival to promote the animated film “How To Train Your Dragon 2”, and walked down the red carpet in a gorgeous floor length Givenchy gown with colourful spiky details which perfectly matched her date for the night, yes that's right, a dragon.

Actress Cate Blanchett has the ability to play a wide range of roles which has made her an audience favourite. ― Cover Media pic

Well, all those stunning dresses are enough to convince us that Cate Blanchett has more than her acting talent to rely on. While the blonde Aussie plays on many of our fantasies with her varying roles ― some submissive, some controlling and others eccentric, yet it is her stunning appearance that mesmerises us most of all. And as you might have noticed, Cate has attended the Cannes Film Festival a number of times over the years and as much as she loves showing off all of those beautiful creations on the red carpet, the attention can be off-putting sometimes.

Blanchett says, “Part of the event is dressing up and it's fabulous, but when it becomes sort of, you feel like a piece of merchandise than that's slightly different but, certainly, I have always had an extraordinary time here and I love dressing up but it's a little bit rude to look a woman up and down like that and when a camera does it, it's slightly annoying.”

Cate clearly has a bunch of fans and lot of men dream of a romance with the Hollywood beauty. Did you know that the duo Blanchett-Pitt could have been a possibility? The Oscar winner was originally due to play Jane Smith opposite Brad Pitt in the movie “Mr. & Mrs Smith”. But, of course, the producers eventually decided on Angelina Jolie. Can you imagine? Brangelina almost didn't happen!

Although Cate could have had her share of men in Hollywood had she wanted to, she chose playwright and screenwriter Andrew Upton whom she met in 1996 on the set of a TV show. The two initially did not hit it off. Blanchett has said that he found her aloof and she found him arrogant, and both were dating other people at the time. But a year later, after a late night poker game, he kissed her. Just three weeks after that they were engaged and wed shortly thereafter. They had no time for a honeymoon, however, with Cate jetting off to England to shoot the film that would make her an international star, “Elizabeth”. It doesn't seem to have bothered the happy couple, as they are still married and have three children together. The love for writing and acting must run in the family as her eldest son enjoys reading screenplays and helps his mother pick the right roles. ― Cover Media