Cate Blanchett at German Hollywood Premiere

Cate Blanchett graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992 and in a little over a year had won both critical and popular acclaim. On graduating from NIDA, she joined the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, then played Felice Bauer, the bride, in Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances, winning the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle for her performance.

From there Blanchett moved to the role of Carol in David Mamet's searing polemic Oleanna, also for the Sydney Theatre Company, and won the Rosemont Best Actress Award, her second award that year.

She then co-starred in the ABC Television's prime time drama Heartland (1994), again winning critical acclaim. In 1995, she was nominated for Best Female Performance for her role as Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company's production of Hamlet. Other theatre credits include Helen in the Sydney Theatre Company's Sweet Phoebe, Miranda in The Tempest and Rose in The Blind Giant is Dancing, both for the Belvoir Street Theatre Company.