Oscar winning actress, 55, announces plans to retire as she says she’s ‘serious about giving up acting’
A TWO-time Oscar winner has announced her plans to retire after becoming a household name.
Australian star Cate Blanchett, 55, has admitted she’s “serious” about quitting acting, ‘hesitating’ to call herself one in a new interview.
Speaking to Radio Times, Blanchett said she had “a lot of things she wants to do with her life” and said: “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting.”
However, she stopped short of giving herself an exit date, or a final project.
It comes as Blanchett recently completed a stint in the Off West End production of Chekhov’s The Seagull at London’s Barbican Theatre.
She’s also lined up to appear in two upcoming film projects: futuristic action thriller Alpha Gang, and drama Father, Mother, Sister, Brother alongside Adam Driver, which is due for release this year.
Blanchett has earned a string of awards and became a beloved name thanks to her roles in films including the Lord of the Rings franchise, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Tár and Ocean’s 8.
During her career, she’s been nominated for eight all-important Academy Awards, taking home two Oscars.
The first was for Best Supporting Actress in 2008’s The Aviator, and the second for Best Leading Actress in 2014’s Blue Jasmine.
Over the past few years, Blanchett has been embracing more “fun” roles, including making a star turn in the music video for This Girl is Crying In Her Latte by Sparks.
She later recreated the flamboyant dance routine by joining the band on stage at Glastonbury, complete with bright yellow suit and red headphones.
However, her 2024 projects proved to be divisive, with Borderlands, an adaptation of the video game, bombing at the box office, while Apple TV+’s Disclaimer received middling reviews and viewership.
This Saturday, she’ll be trying her hand at a radio play, appearing on BBC Radio Four for The Fever – a 90-minute monologue following a traveller who falls sick while travelling through a war-torn country.
Blanchett has been open about doubting her future in the business, telling Vanity Fair in 2023: “It’s not occasional — it’s continual. On a daily or weekly basis, for sure.
“It’s a love affair, isn’t it? So you do fall in and out of love with it, and you have to be seduced back into it.”