Desert Island Discs: Cate Blanchett

DESERT ISLAND DISCS: CATE BLANCHETT (320kbs-m4a/98mb/43mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 11th December 2022

Cate Blanchett is arguably the most celebrated Australian actor ever, winning two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and dozens of other honours around the world.

She grew up in Melbourne, and although she enjoyed music and drama at school, she initially had no plans to pursue a career as an actor. She started a degree course in economics and fine art, but dropped out after a year, and later won a place at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney.

She found international fame before she was 30, playing Elizabeth I in the highly-acclaimed film Elizabeth, winning an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA. Since then, she has appeared in more than 70 films and 20 stage productions. She won an Oscar and a BAFTA for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese, and other notable roles include the elf leader Galadriel in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series and a version of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. She won her second Oscar in 2014 for her performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. Her TV work includes the acclaimed series Mrs America, where she played the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, and she has recently taken on the role of an internationally famous composer and conductor in the film Tár, written and directed by Todd Field.

Cate has received the Australian Centenary medal and is a Companion of the Order of Australia. She is married to the director and playwright Andrew Upton.

BOOK CHOICE: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
LUXURY ITEM: Time
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus composed by Richard Wagner and performed by Norman Luboff Choir, New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Leopold Stokowski

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor

Gustav Mahler - Mahler: Symphony No. 5 In C-Sharp Minor - II [Deutsche Grammophon (DG)]
Los Panchos - Bésame Mucho [Meseta Music]
Richard Wagner - Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus [RCA Red Seal / Sony Classical Masters]
Grinderman - Go Tell the Women [Mute, a BMG Company]
I Am Kloot - Proof [Shepherd Moon]
Kathleen Ferrier - Blow The Wind Southerly [H&H Music Ltd]
Molly Drake - The Little Weaver Bird [Fledg'ling]
Count Basie And His Orchestra - Lil' Darlin' [Parlophone UK]