Line #63 Creator/CateBlanchett


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cateblanchett_tvtropes.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[LGBTFanbase A whole nation]] [[https://blueisthewarmestcolormovie.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/chinese3.gif would go gay for her.]]]]
3
4	->''"Do I think Cate Blanchett is the most spectacular creature that ever walked the planet? Yes, I do."''
5	-->-- '''Creator/RussellCrowe'''
6
7	Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever AC]] (born 14 May 1969 in UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}}) is an award-winning Australian-American[[note]]Her father was from Texas so she holds dual citizenship but was raised in Australia[[/note]] screen and stage actor, producer and theatre director who burst onto the international stage in 1998 in an Oscar-nominated performance as Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethI in ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}''.
8
9	Prominent roles of hers since then include the Elven queen [[TheHighQueen Galadriel]] in Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Film/TheHobbit'' film trilogies, an interpretation of Music/BobDylan in ''Film/ImNotThere'', Daisy in ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'', Creator/KatharineHepburn in ''Film/TheAviator'' opposite Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio (for which she won her first UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actress, making her the only actor in history to win an Oscar for playing another real-life Oscar winner), Sheba Hart in ''Film/NotesOnAScandal'' with Creator/JudiDench, the completely awesome Lady Marion Loxley in Creator/RidleyScott's ''[[Film/RobinHood2010 Robin Hood]]'', Colonel-Doctor Irina Spalko in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', Lady Tremaine in the live-action remake of ''[[{{Film/Cinderella2015}} Cinderella]]'', and Jasmine Francis in ''Film/BlueJasmine'', for which she won her second Academy Award, this time for Best Actress. She also portrayed Hela, the first major female supervillain in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.
10
11	She is mostly well known for her hugely charismatic screen presence, smoky and alluring voice, sharp cheekbones and generally queenly, ethereal nature, as well as her considerable acting talent and [[WomanOfAThousandVoices ability with accents]]. The incomparable Creator/MerylStreep has listed her as one of her favorite working actors, and she has been heralded multiple times as "the greatest actress of her generation"[[note]]even though Blanchett herself [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/03/cate-blanchett-says-she-would-rather-be-called-an-actor-than-an-actress has stated]] that she would rather be referred to as an actor than an actress[[/note]].
12
13	She's been married to Australian director/playwright/screenwriter Andrew Upton since 1997, and they have four children.
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15	!!'''Notable Roles (in chronological order):'''
16	* ''Film/ParadiseRoad'' (1997) as Susan Macarthy
17	* ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'' (1998) as UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Actress')-]
18	* ''Film/TheTalentedMrRipley'' (1999) as Meredith Logue
19	* ''Film/{{The Gift\|2000}}'' (2000) as Annabelle 'Annie' Wilson
20	* ''Film/{{Bandits}}'' (2001) as Kate Wheeler
21	* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' as Galadriel
22	** ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'' (2001)
23	** ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' (2002)
24	** ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' (2003)
25	* ''Literature/TheShippingNews'' (2001) as Petal
26	* ''Film/{{The Missing\|2003}}'' (2003) as Magdalena 'Maggie' Gilkeson
27	* ''Film/CoffeeAndCigarettes'' (2003) as [[AsHimself Herself]]/Shelly
28	* ''Film/VeronicaGuerin'' (2003) as Veronica Guerin
29	* ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'' (2004) as Jane Winslett-Richardson
30	* ''Film/TheAviator'' (2004) as Creator/KatharineHepburn [-(Oscar win for 'Best Supporting Actress')-]
31	* ''Film/{{Babel}}'' (2006) as Susan
32	* ''The Good German'' (2006) as Lena Brandt
33	* ''Film/NotesOnAScandal'' (2006) as Sheba Hart [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Supporting Actress')-]
34	* ''Film/ImNotThere'' (2007) as Jude Quinn [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Supporting Actress')-]
35	* ''[[Film/{{Elizabeth}} Elizabeth: The Golden Age]]'' (2007) as UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Actress')-]
36	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' (2008) as Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko
37	* ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' (2008) as Daisy Fuller
38	* ''Film/{{Robin Hood\|2010}}'' (2010) as Lady Marion Loxley
39	* ''Film/{{Hanna}}'' (2011) as Marissa Wiegler
40	* ''Film/TheHobbit'' as Galadriel
41	** ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney'' (2012)
42	** ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' (2013)
43	** ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'' (2014)
44	* ''Film/BlueJasmine'' (2013) as Jeanette 'Jasmine' Francis [-(Oscar win for 'Best Actress')-]
45	* ''Film/TheMonumentsMen'' (2014) as Claire Simone
46	* ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' Franchise as Valka [-(Voice)-]
47	** ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' (2014)
48	** ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'' (2019)
49	* ''Film/{{Cinderella\|2015}}'' (2015) as Lady Tremaine
50	* ''Film/{{Carol}}'' (2015) as Carol Aird [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Actress')-]
51	* ''Film/{{Truth\|2015}}'' (2015) as Mary Mapes
52	* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' (2017) as ComicBook/{{Hela}}
53	* ''Film/OceansEight'' (2018) as Lou Miller
54	* ''Film/TheHouseWithAClockInItsWalls'' (2018) as Florence Zimmerman
55	* ''Film/{{Mowgli}}'' (2018) as Kaa [-(Voice/Motion Capture)-]
56	* ''Literature/WheredYouGoBernadette'' (2019) as Bernadette Fox
57	* ''Series/MrsAmerica'' (2020) as Phyllis Schlafly [[note]](American TV debut in a limited miniseries for Creator/{{FX\|Networks}} on Creator/{{Hulu}}. She plays the notorious conservative activist during her time successfully trying to stop the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the mid to late 1970s.)[[/note]]
58	* ''Film/DontLookUp'' (2021) as Brie Evantee
59	* ''{{Film/Nightmare Alley\|2021}}'' (2021) as Dr. Lilith Ritter
60	* ''Film/{{Tar}}'' (2022) as Lydia Tár [-(Oscar nomination for 'Best Actress')-]
61	* ''Film/{{The School for Good and Evil\|2022}}'' (2022) as the Narrator
62	* ''WesternAnimation/GuillermoDelTorosPinocchio'' (2022) as Spazzatura [-(Voice)-]
63	* ''Film/{{Borderlands\|2024}}'' (2024) as [[Characters/Borderlands1VaultHunters Lilith]]
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65	----
66	!!'''Tropes relating to Cate Blanchett:'''
67	* AbilityOverAppearance: [[invoked]] In ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Blanchett plays ComicBook/{{Hela}}, who is a 7'0" StatuesqueStunner in the comics. However, in RealLife, Blanchett is 5'9", but she was cast as Hela partly because she is talented enough to play the character despite the height difference, and partly because it (understandably) would have been ''VERY'' difficult to find a female actor (or human being for that matter) of Hela's height in the comics. Costuming, camera angles and Cate playing the character larger than life made her come off quite a bit taller too. It also helps that by any realistic, reasonable ''human'' standard, Blanchett is a StatuesqueStunner anyway, just not as superhumanly tall as the character is supposed to be.
68	* ActingForTwo: [[invoked]]
69	** In ''Film/CoffeeAndCigarettes'', she plays herself and her (fictional) cousin Shelly, in conversation with each other.
70	** In '' Manifesto'' she plays ''thirteen'' different characters!
71	* ActorShipping: [[invoked]] Hoo boy, yes. Cate's large [[LGBTFanbase lesbian fanbase]] love shipping her with other female actors that she has noticeable chemistry with. It started with Creator/RooneyMara after ''Film/{{Carol}}'', and was then followed by Creator/SandraBullock (and Creator/SarahPaulson to a lesser extent) after the release of ''Film/OceansEight''.
72	* AwesomeDearBoy: [[invoked]]
73	** The main reason she played Galadriel? She wanted to have pointy ears.
74	** She also commented that one of the reasons she signed up to ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' was to work with director Creator/TaikaWaititi, of whom she is a big fan.
75	* TheCameo:
76	** In ''Film/HotFuzz'' -- not only was Blanchett uncredited, but her character wore a mask and coveralls throughout her screen time.
77	** She also had a voice only cameo in ''Film/EyesWideShut'' as the mysterious masked woman who sacrificed herself to save Creator/TomCruise's character, a fact that wasn't revealed until nearly ''twenty'' years after the film's release.
78	* CelebrityVoiceActor: [[invoked]] As Granmammare in the English language dub of ''[[Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea Ponyo]]'', [[EnfantTerrible Penelope]] and [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth II]] in two separate episodes of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and Valka in the [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 the second]] and [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld third]] installment of the ''How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise.
79	* DyeingForYourArt: [[invoked]]
80	** She had her head shaved for real in a scene of the movie ''Heaven'' where her character did the same.
81	** She also had her hairline raised and her eyebrows and eyelashes bleached to play UsefulNotes/ElizabethI in ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'' and its sequel to encapsulate the fashion during the Elizabethan era.
82	** One of her earliest screen roles was in an Australian series called ''Bordertown'' (1995), where she played an albino character whose hair and eyebrows were white as snow. To prepare for a scene where she had to show her privates, Cate tried to [[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/20/cate-blanchett-sarah-paulson-w-magazine-merkin-pubic-hair-mrs-america-carol/ bleach her pubic hair to match her white wig]]. The bleach, she reports, did not catch.
83	* DyeHard: [[invoked]] She may well have gone through the entire spectrum of hair colours in her roles. She has joked that she can't even remember what her natural hair colour is.
84	* FakeAmerican: [[invoked]] Many of her roles. Mildly subverted in that she does have American ancestry and holds dual citizenship (her father was from Texas), but was born and raised in Australia so still has to fake the accent.
85	* FakeBrit: [[invoked]] Very often plays English characters and also played the [[FakeScot Scottish]] Charlotte Gray in the film of the same name.
86	* FakeIrish: [[invoked]] When she played the title role in ''Film/VeronicaGuerin''.
87	* FakeRussian: [[invoked]] In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' and ''The Man Who Cried''.
88	* FakeNationality: [[invoked]] In addition to the above, she has also played the French Claire Simone in ''Film/TheMonumentsMen'' and the German Lena Brandt in ''The Good German'' (and also the Elvish Galadriel in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogies and the Asgardian Hela in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'')
89	* FanCommunityNickname: [[invoked]] Her fans commonly refer to themselves as 'Blanchetters'.
90	* TheFashionista: She is regularly being named in the media as one of the most stylish women in the world in RealLife and is the international brand ambassador for Armani beauty and Sì fragrance, as well as being a noted muse of Giorgio Armani himself. A few of her characters could definitely be called fashionistas too, notably Jasmine French in ''Blue Jasmine'', Lady Tremaine in ''Cinderella'' and Lou Miller in ''Ocean's 8''.
91	* OneOfUs/FilmNerds:
92	** [[invoked]] A self-confessed cinephile. She impressed Peter Travers when she listed off films in 2015 (even ones she hadn't appeared in) like a qualified critic, and he joked that she should have been hired instead of him.
93	** [[invoked]] She also loves horror films, and is a fan of the ''{{Franchise/Halloween}}'' series.
94	** [[invoked]] Her comfort movie? Bi Gan's ''[[https://thefilmstage.com/cate-blanchett-reveals-her-favorite-comfort-movie-is-bi-gans-long-days-journey-into-night/ Long Day's Journey Into Night]]''.
95	** [[invoked]] Guesting on the ''WTF Podcast'' by Marc Maron, Cate casually dropped a TC Tuggers reference mid-conversation while talking about Maron's shirt. Who knew Oscar-winning actors watched ''Series/IThinkYouShouldLeaveWithTimRobinson''?
96	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: She has somewhat of a reputation for playing noble, heroic and elegant blonde women. In fact, the only time she has played overtly villainous characters on film, they have either been brunette or red-haired. Subverted big-time in ''Series/MrsAmerica'' where she plays the blonde nightmare Phyllis Schlafly as well as ''{{Film/Nightmare Alley\|2021}}'' where she plays the blonde manipulative Dr. Lilith Ritter.
97	* HideYourPregnancy: [[invoked]] Averted in ''Film/TheLifeAquaticWithSteveZissou'' as her character Jane was also pregnant so she had no need to hide her real life pregnancy. Amusingly Cate didn't realise that she was pregnant herself until she was having her prosthetic baby bump modelled and fainted (half-naked) in the studio! Nearly played straight in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', but mostly averted as she was only three months pregnant by the ''end'' of filming and wasn't yet showing.
98	* TheHighQueen: Her roles as [[Film/{{Elizabeth}} Elizabeth I]] and [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Galadriel]]. People tend to see her as this off-screen as well (her fans affectionately refer to her as "Queen Cate" and "Cate The Great") despite her many and varied roles and tendency to drop F-bombs in interviews.
99	* HollywoodHypeMachine: It got behind her big time after ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}''. Now nearly twenty years later, she's a two-time Oscar winner, top Box Office draw and widely one of the most respected actors in the world.
100	* UsefulNotes/KnightFever: She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 2017.
101	* LargeHam: Gleefully so, when the role calls for it. When she gets hungry for scenery, look out.
102	* LGBTFanbase:
103	** [[invoked]] Due to portraying a lesbian in the incredibly popular lesbian romance ''Film/{{Carol}}'', along with her tendency to often portray very powerful, assertive, badass female characters and also often wear suits or other androgynous clothing in RealLife, she has amassed an increasingly huge lesbian fanbase, to the extent that she's often referred to as being 'Queen of the Lesbians' or 'Queen of the Gays' on social media.
104	** Her role as Music/BobDylan in ''Film/ImNotThere'' created rather a few [[SweetOnPollyOliver drag-king fetishes]].
105	** Said lesbian fanbase then reached peak levels after the release of ''Film/OceansEight'', helped by the fact that her character is notoriously AmbiguouslyGay (or not so ambiguously gay depending on who you ask), not to mention that she has scorching chemistry with co-star Creator/SandraBullock.
106	* LongHairIsFeminine: Although she normally wears her hair just below her shoulders or shorter, three of her most famous roles ([[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Galadriel]], [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen Elizabeth]], and [[Film/RobinHood2010 Lady Marion Loxley]]) also have her with hair worn well past her waist. Interestingly, she is a [[BlondeBrunetteRedhead blonde as Galadriel, a brunette as Marion and a redhead as Elizabeth]].
107	* MemeticMutation: [[invoked]]
108	** [[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing All will love her and despair!]]
109	** Also, the [[https://9gag.com/gag/aAd2xAp/get-you-a-girl-who-can-do-both 'Get You a Girl Who Can Do Both']] thing really took off on social media when the ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' teaser trailer was released, often referenced as Hela being the result of Galadriel if she wore the ring.
110	** When Cate snapped at the E! Entertainment camera for panning up and down her dress in 2014, often referenced by when she said, "Do you do that to the guys?"
111	* MsFanservice: ''Usually'' averted. As beautiful as she is, she rarely does nude or particularly revealing scenes, but...
112	** Played straight in ''The Man Who Cried'' where she plays a beautiful Russian dancer and spends a lot of her scenes in various showgirl-style midriff and leg-revealing outfits as well as incredibly form-fitting [[PimpedOutDress evening gowns]].
113	** Also played straight in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' wherein she spends the entire movie wearing an outfit [[FormFittingWardrobe so]] [[SpyCatsuit tight]] that it leaves ''very'' little to the imagination and may as well be [[PaintedOnPants painted]] on her body.
114	** Generally played straight in a nontraditional fashion in the more 'glamorous and queenly' way.
115	* OscarBait: One of the most awards-laden living film actors, she has eight Oscar nominations and two wins to date.
116	* PlayingAgainstType: [[invoked]]
117	** She plays the WickedStepmother in ''[[Film/Cinderella2015 Cinderella]]'', quite a different turn from her heroic leading lady roles. Cate commented on people's reactions when she said she'd be in ''Cinderella'' -- most of them looking at her curiously, assuming she meant she'd be Ella herself.
118	** As the ruthless and destructive BigBad [[DarkActionGirl Hela]] in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.
119	** In ''Series/DocumentaryNow'' where she plays a comedic character, albiet of TheComicallySerious kind.
120	* PrettyInMink: She's played several glamorous ladies who've worn luxurious furs, from the ermine cape in ''Elizabeth'' to the mink coats in ''The Aviator'' and ''Carol''.
121	* PromotedFanboy:
122	** During press interviews for ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' she admitted to being a huge fan of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movies since she was a child and wanting to ''be'' Indiana Jones when she grew up. You can imagine how thrilled she was to get a phone call from Creator/StevenSpielberg asking her to be in the new movie, and then also subsequently receiving the script to find that they wanted her to play the [[TheBaroness the villain]] rather than the [[GirlOfTheWeek love interest]].
123	** She was also a huge fan of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' books before playing Galadriel, and had the pointy elf ears bronzed after filming was over.
124	* ProtagonistTitle: She has starred in a fairly unusually high number of films where her character is (or is one of) the central protagonist(s) and the character's name is also in the title of the film. From earliest to most recent: ''Oscar and Lucinda'', ''Elizabeth'', ''Charlotte Gray'', ''Veronica Guerin'', ''Elizabeth: The Golden Age'', ''Blue Jasmine'', ''Carol'', ''Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' and ''Tár''.
125	* {{Shakespearian Actor\|s}}: Not with the [[Creator/RoyalShakespeareCompany RSC]] but she has the classical background training at Australia's NIDA (National Institute for Dramatic Art) and, yes, did Shakespeare, including Miranda (''Theatre/TheTempest'') and Ophelia (''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'') and of course, she also possesses those "redoubtable acting skills".
126	* SoMyKidsCanWatch: [[invoked]] This is Cate's reason for accepting a voice role in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' (as her kids loved the first film) and also one of her reasons for joining the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse as ComicBook/{{Hela}} in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. Her oldest son actually talked her into the latter role by arguing that it would make sense from a career standpoint to pick a franchise as her first movie back after taking a year’s long maternity leave to adopt her daughter.
127	* SpiritedYoungLady: Cate played this type of role a lot in her earlier career, Lucinda Leplastrier in ''Oscar and Lucinda'', Elizabeth I in ''{{Film/Elizabeth}}'', the title character in ''Charlotte Gray'', her interpretation of Creator/KatharineHepburn in ''Film/TheAviator'' and Daisy Fuller in ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' being notable examples.
128	* StarMakingRole: [[invoked]] She was virtually unknown outside of Australia before her role as Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethI in ''Film/{{Elizabeth}}'', which automatically made her one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood and led to her first Oscar nomination.
129	* StatuesqueStunner: She is 5'9 and towers over many of her co-stars, especially when she is wearing heels. She is also famous for playing [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Galadriel]], one of the most famous Statuesque Stunners in the literary genre.
130	* ThoseTwoActors: [[invoked]]
131	** She co-starred with Creator/BradPitt in ''Film/{{Babel}}'' and ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton''.
132	** She has been acting with good friend Creator/HugoWeaving for many years on the stage and has also co-starred with him in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Film/TheHobbit'' trilogies as well as the Australian drama, ''Little Fish''.
133	** Same with fellow Aussie, Richard Roxburgh, who she has a very long theatre history with from her time at NIDA right up to the present day and who she also co-starred with in an early film on her résumé, ''Thank God He Met Lizzie''.
134	** She also co-starred with Creator/GeorgeClooney in both ''The Good German'' and ''Film/TheMonumentsMen''.
135	** And Creator/MattDamon in both ''Film/TheTalentedMrRipley'' and ''Film/TheMonumentsMen''.
136	** Also with Creator/SarahPaulson in ''Film/OceansEight'', ''Film/{{Carol}}'' and ''Series/MrsAmerica''.
137	** She co-starred with Creator/RooneyMara in both ''Film/{{Carol}}'' and ''{{Film/Nightmare Alley\|2021}}''.
138	* UncreditedRole: [[invoked]] She has had brief uncredited cameos in both ''Film/HotFuzz'' and ''Film/EyesWideShut'', the latter being voice only.
139	* VillainousCheekbones: Of the "you could cut glass on" kind. Hers tend to come in handy for her villain roles.
140	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[invoked]]
141	** She was considered for the role of Clarice Starling in ''{{Film/Hannibal}}'', which eventually went to Creator/JulianneMoore.
142	** She was offered the role of Anna in Mike Nichol's ''{{Film/Closer}}'' but had to pull out due to her pregnancy with her second son and was eventually replaced by Creator/JuliaRoberts.
143	** She was also considered for the role of Jane Smith in ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005'' which ended up going to Creator/AngelinaJolie - she would however eventually end up starring with Creator/BradPitt in both ''{{Film/Babel}}'' and ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton''.
144	** She was Creator/StevenSpielberg's first choice to play Agatha in ''Film/MinorityReport'' but the role ended up going to Samantha Morton due to numerous scheduling conflicts.
145	** She and Brad Pitt were to star together a third time in ''Film/TheFountain''. But when funding fell through, the project was shelved and both of them dropped out. It was eventually made on a much smaller budget with Creator/HughJackman and Creator/RachelWeisz. Had Cate starred in it, she would have added another Queen to her list - Queen Isabella of Spain (a fictional version of her anyway). Hilariously Rachel was set to play Daisy in ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' before dropping out.
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Context Creator / CateBlanchett