Why Cate Blanchett & Her Husband Of 25 Years Couldn't Stand Each Other When They Met
Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton went from a rocky start to 25 years of marriage and success.
s_bukley, Matteo Chinellato/Shutterstock.comCate Blanchett is among the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, and with her Oscar nomination for Best Actress for "Tár," she shows no signs of slowing down.
Blanchett, 53, has been in some of the biggest box office smashes of recent years, from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Ocean's 8."
And when she's not lighting up screens, the statuesque 5'8" Blanchett is setting trends on red carpets, routinely being voted among Hollywood's "best dressed."
With all that prestige and glamour, it can be easy to forget that Blanchett is also a mother and wife who's been married to her husband for 25 years.
That's a feat for any celebrity marriage given Hollywood's demands, but it's even more impressive given that Blanchett and her husband didn't even like each other when they first met.
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Who Is Cate Blanchett's husband?
Blanchett and her hubby seem to have been made for each other—despite their initial aversion to one another.
Cate Blanchett has been married to Australian playwright, screenwriter and director Andrew Upton since 1997.
Like Blanchett, who grew up in the Ivanhoe suburb of Melbourne, Upton is also Australian, born and raised in Sydney.
Upton was the Artistic Director from 2008 to 2015 of the prestigious Sydney Theatre Company, famous for launching stars like Geoffrey Rush, Toni Collette and Blanchett herself.
They went on to serve as co-artistic directors of the theatre and to collaborate on plays together, and with stars like Philip Seymour Hoffman.
But they met at a different Sydney theatre years before—and it didn't go well at first.
Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton did not like each other at all when they first met in 1997—but that quickly changed.
Blanchett and Upton met at the Belvoir St Theatre where Blanchett was appearing in the lead role of Nina in a production of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull"—and it did not go well.
"He thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant," she told Vanity Fair in 1999. "And it just shows how wrong you can be."
Blanchett went on to add, "but once he kissed me, that was that," and Blanchett wasn't kidding.
She told Ellen DeGeneres in 2015 that while they "didn't like each other for a long time," just three days after properly meeting they were hooking up.
And in an ending fit for a Hollywood screenplay, just three weeks after that, they were engaged.
After their 1997 wedding, Blanchett and Upton soon welcomed their four children, sons Dashiell John Upton, 21, Roman Robert Upton, 18, Ignatius Martin Upton 14, and adopted daughter Edith Vivian Patricia Upton, 7.
Today, after a long stint in their native Australia, the couple and their four children live in East Sussex, UK.
Cate Blanchett shares four children with Andrew Upton.
The Oscar-winning actress has three sons — Dashiell, 21, Roman, 18, and Ignatius, 15 — and a daughter Edith, 7.
Her eldest son looks set to follow in his parents' footsteps as he is currently enrolled in film school.
Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton are also business partners, and Upton has produced some of Blanchett's biggest films.
In addition to collaborating as co-artistic directors of Sydney Theatre Company from 2008-2012, they formed the production company Dirty Films in the 2000s.
Blanchett and Upton have modeled Dirty Films on Blanchett's fellow Hollywood colleagues who are both actors and powerhouse producers.
Speaking to Variety in 2022, Blanchett cited her "Don't Look Up" costar Leonardo DiCaprio and her "Nightmare Alley" costar Bradley Cooper, as well as Reese Witherspoon, as inspirations.
Through Dirty Films, Blanchett and Upton are producing projects for Apple TV+ and Netflix in which Blanchett will also star.
Blanchett and Upton's biggest success with their Dirty Films production company is 2015's "Carol," which garnered Blanchett her fourth Best Actress Academy Award and made her among the most Oscar-nominated actresses in history.
Upton and Blanchett relaunched Dirty Films to produce the Todd Haynes film, in which Blanchett starred with Rooney Mara.
Blanchett's "Carol" nomination followed previous Best Actress nominations for "Elizabeth," which she infamously lost to Gwyneth Paltrow, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," and "Blue Jasmine," for which she won in 2014.
She has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for playing Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator," which she won, as well as for "Notes On a Scandal" and her role as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."
Now, Blanchett joins the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Glenn Close and Geraldine Page in having eight Academy Award nods to her name after her Best Actress nomination for "Tár," her fifth in the category.
No doubt Upton will be at her side to walk her down the red carpet at the March 12th Oscars ceremony. Quite a journey for two people who once couldn't stand each other!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.