From there Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet's amazing Oleanna, also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award for that year. She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama Heartland, again winning critical acclaim. She was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company's production of Hamlet in 1995.
Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's Sweet Phoebe, Miranda in The Tempest and Rose in The Blind Giant is Dancing, both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company. For television, Blanchett starred as Bianca in ABC's "Bordertown", as Janie Morris in "G.P." and in ABC's popular series "Police Rescue." She makes her feature film debut in Paradise Road.
Her film roles include Susan McCarthy in Bruce Beresford's Paradise Road; Lizzie in Thank God He Met Lizzie, an anti-romantic comedy directed by Cherie Nowlan for which Blanchett was awarded both the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and the Sydney Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress; and Lucinda in Oscar and Lucinda, opposite Ralph Fiennes and directed by Gillian Armstrong, a role that earned her an AFI nomination for Best Actress.
In 1998, Blanchett portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the critically acclaimed Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur, for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She also earned Best Actress Awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the London Film Critics Association, the On-line Film Critics, the Variety Critics and the UK Empire Award. She also received a Best Actress nomination from the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
All occurring in 1999: Blanchett appeared in Pushing Tin with John Cusack, a black comedy about air traffic controllers directed by Mike Newell; An Ideal Husband, directed by Oliver Parker; and The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by Anthony Minghella, for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Quotes:
"I basically did it so I could have ears"
