Cate Blanchett

“When you're a performer, of course you want an audience, but it's very, very different from courting fame.”

“I'm so misunderstood!”

“There is a societal cost of increased pollution, and that's what I'm passionate about as a mother.”

“A lot of people are frightened by old age - by being around people who are, basically, on their way out - but I'm fascinated by it. It's an amazing thing to be around someone who has had a life well lived.”

“I think that the benefit of playing someone like Queen Elizabeth is that so much has been written about her, and there's so much speculation about her - was she a hermaphrodite? She's so mythologised, and there are a lot of images of her.”

“I think there is a long exploration in American drama of women in particular who, by force of circumstances or because they are predisposed to, choose fantasy over reality.”

“My husband went through a phase of giving me vacuum cleaners, sewing machines and Mixmasters. It's ironic. He is encouraging me to develop a hobby, I think.”

“You can't really achieve anything in three years.”

“When I came out of drama school, I was in a shared house in Sydney.”

“We've enshrined the purity, sanctity, value, and importance of bringing children into the world, yet we don't discuss death. There used to be an enshrined period where mourning was a necessary part of going through the process of grieving; death wasn't considered morbid or antisocial. But that's totally gone.”

“I'm not sitting on a soapbox telling women what they should and shouldn't do, but I know what works for me.”

“Well, I've never looked upon myself as being a beauty, per se.”

“I would have loved to have been an architect - which, actually, would have been a disaster.”

“I'm constantly humbled.”

“I think the only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted to, whatever I did, I wanted to travel with my work, an adventurous spirit.”

“I don't consciously think of how parenthood has changed me but I'm sure it must have.”

“Every director works differently.”

“Armani makes a fantastic lip gloss called 'Beige 100.'”

“I want to see a connected and progressive future for Australia, where we harness our greatest natural resources: sun, wind, and brain power.”

“I went through a mod and goth-phase when I decided that I wouldn't ever be the bronzed beach-bunny. I started going as pale as I possibly could.”