Actress Cate Blanchett says she is ‘serious about giving up acting’

By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter

Actress Cate Blanchett has said she is “serious about giving up acting” as there are “lots of things I want to do with my life”.

The 55-year-old is preparing to star in her first radio drama in BBC Radio 4’s The Fever and told the Radio Times she is still not totally comfortable with being a celebrity.

She said: “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. (There are) a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

The Australian most recently starred in the spy thriller Black Bag (2025), and has won two Oscars for best supporting actress in The Aviator (2005) and best actress in Blue Jasmine (2013).

Speaking about her experience of being a celebrity she added: “When you go on a talk show, or even here now, and then you see soundbites of things you’ve said, pulled out and italicised, they sound really loud. I’m not that person.

“I make more sense in motion – it’s been a long time to remotely get comfortable with the idea of being photographed.

“I’ve always felt like I’m on the periphery of things, so I’m always surprised when I belong anywhere. I go with curiosity into whatever environment that I’m in, not expecting to be accepted or welcomed.

“I’ve spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.”

Blanchett rose to fame with her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998), and has gone on to star in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy as Galadriel, and Ocean’s 8 (2018).

She has also featured in a wide variety of theatre productions, and was a co-director of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 to 2013, alongside her husband Andrew Upton, who remained in the role until 2015.

The full interview with Blanchett can be read in the Easter edition of the Radio Times out on Saturday.