She’s a two-time Oscar winner now but Cate Blanchett revealed there were some “brutal” realities she faced as an Australian actor trying to make it overseas.
The 56-year-old, who is nominated for her first Olivier Award tonight for Best Actress in The Seagull – Britain’s answer to the Tony Awards – spoke about her memories of first moving to the UK decades ago, during an event held at Australia House in London.
“When I came to this country, for better or for worse, I was patted on the head 20 years ago because of the way I spoke, the country I came from,” she said during a panel, alongside celebrated Australian writer Suzie Miller and Aussie director Kip Williams.
“I wasn’t tolerated culturally and it was brutal. It was brutal.
“I mean, I still worked but I worked hard and I thought ‘every day, I’m gonna have to prove myself’, because I’m not necessarily invited to table, I’m from the colonies, and that was, I mean, there’s many Australians in the room, who would have felt the same.”
Now an eight-time Academy Award nominee, Blanchett is an established name on the big screen and at the box office.
But the NIDA alum still has a love for treading the boards and was nominated for a Tony for her 2017 Broadway debut in another Anton Chekhov play, The Present.
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Williams, who has been making waves on both the West End and Broadway with his innovative take on old classics, credits Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton for allowing him to carry on the torch at the Sydney Theatre Company.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to be following in the footsteps of some great artists,” Williams told nine.com.au
“I ran the Sydney Theatre Company after Cate and Andrew had run the company and whilst they were artistic directors, they took the Sydney Theatre Company’s work to the Barbican [in London], they took it to Broadway.
“So when I came in, they had already broken through that barrier and it meant that when I brought work, there was already an audience for it, people were ready to embrace it.”
Williams’ shows including The Picture of Dorian Gray, with Sarah Snook playing all 26 characters, have become a must-see and he hopes it will inspire others to get creative.
“Australians continue to stand on the shoulders of those who come before them, and I feel that myself very deeply, and hopefully there are some young theatre makers and storytellers back home who will be able to do so as well off the back of what me and my teams have done,” he said.
Award-winning playwright, Miller, who is best known for one-woman shows Prima Facie and Inter Alia, agreed that celebrated Australians are opening the door for other Aussies both in London and Hollywood.
She says Australians are successful overseas because they’ve often been afforded the chance to play at home.
“My play Prima Facie started at a tiny theatre in Sydney, the Griffin Theatre, which has 100 seats, it’s our writers theatre, so I felt like I belonged there,” Miller told nine.com.au
“And then, of course, it went here [London] and now it’s in 50 countries, in 30 languages.
“And you think it’s a one-person show, I never ever thought that was possible.
“So I think Australians are already dreamers, but if you put a little bit of air under their wings, or a little bit of gold in their pockets, they’ll really use it wisely.”
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Every star spotted out in London at the 2025 Olivier Awards
The trio came together to celebrate Australian contributions to British theatre ahead of the Olivier Awards, which this year has four Aussie nominees, including Blanchett and Miller.
Among the audience at the High Commission were our two other nominees – Trevor Ashley, who is up for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for The Producers, as well as Fabian Aloise nominated for Best Theatre Choreographer for his work on Evita.
The awards will be handed out at a glittering ceremony tonight at London’s Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Ted Lasso‘s Nick Mohammed.
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