Cate Blanchett's very first Oscar win not only made Oscars history, but also set an Oscars record that no actor has managed to match to this day.
SUMMARY
- Cate Blanchett is the only actor to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar-winning actor in a movie.
- Martin Landau previously held the record for winning an Oscar for playing a real-life movie star in general.
- Renée Zellweger won an Oscar for playing Judy Garland, but Garland's Academy Juvenile Award is not considered the same as a competitive award.
When Cate Blanchett won her very first Academy Award in 2005, she set an Oscars record that has yet to be matched by any other actor. A phenomenal talent, the Australian actor has starred in countless acclaimed films and has been recognized widely by the Academy.
She received her first Oscar nomination in 1999 for Best Supporting Actress for the titular role of Queen Elizabeth I in Shekhar Kapur's biographical period drama Elizabeth. She was nominated again for the same role in the sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, in 2008.
In total, Cate Blanchett has eight Oscar nominations and two wins. After her first nomination for Elizabeth in 1999, Blanchett was nominated again in 2005, marking her very first win. This win would make Oscars history and set a record that no actor has matched to this day.
Cate Blanchett remains the only actor to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar-winning actor in a movie. In 2005, she won Best Supporting Actress for playing Hollywood icon and fellow Oscar record holder Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.
The Howard Hughes biopic explores the life of the affluent film producer and aviation pioneer, including Hughes' struggle with OCD and his romantic relationship with Hepburn.
The Oscars 2024 race is well underway, with the likes of Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbie hoping to win big at the Academy Awards.
Not only did nabbing this Oscar for playing Hepburn in The Aviator make Blanchett the first actor to win an Oscar for their role as an actual Oscar-winner, but it also made her the second actor ever to win an Oscar for playing a real-life movie star in general.
However, Martin Landau beat Blanchett to this Oscars record with his win for Tim Burton's Ed Wood biopic a decade prior. In 1995, Landau won Best Supporting Actor for playing real-life horror film actor Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood.
Why Renée Zellweger's Oscar Win For Playing Judy Garland Is Different
Technically, Renée Zellweger has also won an Oscar for playing an Oscar-winner in a movie, but her situation is a little different. In 2020, Zellweger won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as the eponymous screen and stage icon in the Judy Garland biopic, Judy.
Like Hepburn, Garland is a Hollywood legend. She was a musical and cinematic star and remains one of the most famous and renowned vocalists and actresses of all time.
Garland's breakout role was playing Dorothy in the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz at just 16 years old, for which she received an Academy Juvenile Award. Also known as the Juvenile Oscar, this was a Special Honorary Academy Award that recognized youth achievement in film but was discontinued after the 33rd Academy Awards in 1961.
Garland went on to be nominated for two more Oscars—Best Actress for A Star is Born in 1955 and Best Supporting Actress for Judgment at Nuremberg in 1962—before her tragic death on June 22, 1969, at the age of 47 but didn't win either.
By the time she passed, Garland's Academy Juvenile Award for The Wizard of Oz was the only Oscar she ever received. Because it was a Special Honorary Academy Award only given to juvenile performers, it's not quite the same as winning a competitive award in one of the four main acting categories.
For this reason, Garland isn't considered a real Oscar winner the same way Hepburn is, or any other actor who's won a competitive Oscar. As such, Blanchett still holds the Oscars record for the only actor to win an Oscar for playing a real-life Oscar-winner.
