I am always impressed with Cate Blanchett’s range, passion, and how busy she keeps working! My first sighting of Cate was in 2001, the film Bandits with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. The same year she was in The Shipping News, Charlotte Gray, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Like a scene in LOTR where she played Galadriel (a role she has played 6 times 2001-2014), she is capable of frightening, sympathizing, and kicking butt within seconds of each other. Diving into more of her work such as Pushing Tin and The Talented Mr. Ripley (both in 1999), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (she was the best part of the film playing a villain with a Russian accent in 2008), Cate does the work to make the role well fleshed out (even when the films aren’t). Perhaps my favorite role of hers was playing opposite Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Cate made the film complete by making me care about what was happening to her character, not just Benjamin, helping Brad’s performance along the way.

Thanks, Happy Mother’s Day, and Happy Birthday Cate!