Cate Blanchett announces ‘serious’ plans to retire from acting

The Lord Of The Rings star said she wasn’t fully comfortable with being a celebrity

Cate Blanchett has spoken about her retirement from acting (Getty)

Cate Blanchett has said she is “serious about giving up acting.”

The star, 55, added she wanted to leave showbusiness as there are “lots of things I want to do with my life”.

Blanchett is preparing to star in her first radio drama in BBC Radio 4’s The Fever.

To promote the show, she spoke to the Radio Times - and confessed 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.”

Cate Blanchett attending the 2025 Olivier Awards earlier this month (Ian West/PA) (PA)

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.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

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

The full interview will feature in the Easter edition of the Radio Times (Radio Times/PA) (Radio Times)