- Cate Blanchett is a world-renowned Australian actress
- She is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar at the 2023 Academy Awards with her performance in ‘Tár’
- Cate married the father of her four children, Andrew Upton, in 1997
Cate Blanchett has added quite a few acting trophies to her collection from her fearless performance in ‘Tár,’ where she played a fictional, EGOT-winning maestro in the midst of a downward spiral. The film, written for the star by director Todd Field, has garnered her the Golden Globe for best actress in a movie drama, as well as best actress at the Critics’ Choice Awards. The Australian beauty could also win her third Oscar at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Standing in her corner while she took over the world is Cate’s husband, Andrew Upton. The pair have been together for over two decades, welcoming a family and new business ventures. “It’s been a great creative partnership with my husband and also a great love affair,” Cate told E! in 2015. “Working together, running a creative company in Australia. It’s been fantastic.” Learn more about Andrew and their marriage, below.
What does Andrew do?
Andrew is a playwright, screenwriter, director and even an actor in a few small projects. During his career, he adapted famous plays for the National Theatre in London and served as director of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Waiting for Godot adaptation, per People.
How did Cate and Andrew meet?
Cate’s marriage to Andrew started out like a romantic comedy when they met in 1997; they didn’t even like each other at first! “It was mostly animosity. He thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant,” Cate recalled in 2013 on The Tonight Show. “We just didn’t really connect and we were going out with other people, who we’re still friends with and it was always an issue when the four of us went out that Andrew and I had something going on.”
Cate knew Andrew was the one after their third date
After just three days of dating, Cate knew Andrew was her special somebody for life. “We were in bed, as you are after three days, and he said, ‘Cate,’ and I thought, ‘S***, he’s gonna ask me to marry him and I’m gonna have to say yes,'” she admitted to Ellen DeGeneres in 2015. “And then he said, ‘No, I’m hungry, do you want to go get something to eat?’” she recalled, laughing. However, it was only a little while later that he did pop the question. “Then he asked me after about 21 days and I said yes,” Cate revealed to Ellen.
The proposal also came after a disastrous meal prepared by Cate, which meant Andrew was serious about the actress. “I cooked him the worst meal. I somehow decided that to stuff a trout with walnuts and goat’s cheese would be a good idea,” she told Ellen. “‘He ate it and then he asked me to marry him so clearly he was I don’t know hallucinating. He realized I couldn’t cook.”
The couple share four children
Their family includes three boys, Dashiell, Roman, Ignatius, and a girl, Edith. Dashiell, the oldest of Cate and Andrew’s brood, was born December 3, 2001. Roman followed three years later on April 23, 2004 and Ignatius rounded out the boy squad on April 13, 2008.
After Ignatius, Cate and Andrew decided to adopt. In March 2015, they welcomed a newborn baby girl named Edith. “There are a lot of children out there who don’t have the good fortune that our biological children do, so it’s wonderful to welcome a little girl into our fold—we’re besotted,” Cate told Sky News, via Today’s Parent.
Andrew and Cate are business partners
Together they own the production company, Dirty Films, and they both serve as artistic directors and CEOs of the Sydney Theatre Company. “He’s one of the few grounded people I know whose head is in the stars,” Cate told Vanity Fair of her husband in 1999. “He’s able to stretch between the sky and the earth. Those people are very rare.”