In the two dozen years since she received her first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, Cate Blanchett has become one of the most-recognized performers in the organization’s history. With her 2023 lead notice for “TAR,” she ties Meryl Streep’s record for most film SAG Award bids. If she prevails on her 18th general nomination, she will follow Daniel Day-Lewis, Renée Zellweger, and Viola Davis as only the fourth person to ever take home three SAG trophies for individual film acting.
On her fifth Best Film Actress outing, Blanchett faces three category newcomers and one heavily-feted veteran. The one whose SAG Awards resume most closely rivals hers is Davis, who is seeking her third win here for “The Woman King” following victories for “The Help” (2012) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2021). The other three categories she has conquered are Best Film Ensemble (“The Help”), Best TV Drama Actress (“How to Get Away with Murder,” 2015-2016), and Best Film Supporting Actress (“Fences,” 2017). Also included in this lineup are Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), and past (“Crazy Rich Asians,” 2019) and present ensemble nominee Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”).
Blanchett’s performance as Lydia Tar represents one of the most ambitious undertakings of her career, as she is tasked with leading viewers through a remarkably complex character study of an increasingly flawed artist. Tar is an extremely accomplished musician and composer whose highly prestigious position as the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic (as well as her marriage and other personal relationships) begins to slip through her fingers as her past professional indiscretions come back to haunt her.
With her respective ensemble, supporting, and lead wins for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004), “The Aviator” (2005), and “Blue Jasmine” (2014), Blanchett already stands with Davis, Zellweger, and Helen Mirren as one of only four actresses to have collected every possible film SAG Award. Winning for “TAR” would make her the lead category’s fourth two-time champ, after Frances McDormand (“Fargo,” 1997 and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” 2018), Zellweger (“Chicago,” 2003 and “Judy,” 2020), and Davis.
Blanchett’s extensive SAG Awards resume also includes film nominations for her lead performances in “Elizabeth” (1999), “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (2008), and “Carol” (2016), her supporting turns in “Bandits” (2002), “Notes on a Scandal” (2007), “I’m Not There” (2008), and “Nightmare Alley” (2022), and her ensemble work in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2002), “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2003), “The Aviator,” “Babel” (2007), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2009), and “Don’t Look Up” (2022). She also has a single TV notice to her name for her starring role on the 2020 limited series “Mrs. America.”
This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “SAG Awards nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 contenders in film and TV.
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