Good Actress Streep Makes True A List

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Good Actress Streep Makes True A List

Forbes magazine has compiled a "True A List" of actors and actresses in Hollywood today.

To do so, they looked at the actors and actresses who had been nominated for Oscars in the past five years. They then tallied their box office draws for the same types of roles.

The list of Oscar-winning women was topped by Cate Blanchett, who has received four nominations in the past five years.

However, when box office draw was figured in, Meryl Streep was the clear leading lady, with two Oscar nominations in the last five years and $1.3 billion in ticket sales.

Streep ranked fifth overall, behind Will Smith. Blanchett doesn't even make the top 10 overall, due to critically acclaimed but under-attended films like "I'm Not There" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Actress Richardson Supports Climate Conference

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Actress Richardson Supports Climate Conference

The United Nations Climate Change Conference will be happening December 7-December 18, and a number of celebrities support the cause to stop global warming.

No doubt you know about Leonardo DiCaprio, but there are others who care about the environment, too.

Miranda Richardson participated in protests against climate change. Miley Cyrus wrote a song called "Wake Up, America."

Additionally, Cate Blanchett, who works with the lobby group whoonearthcares, has already appeared in Copenhagen once this year.

She addressed leaders at the World Business Summit on Climate Change, explaining that political failure in December "is quite simply unacceptable ."

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Cate Blanchett Injured on Stage

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Cate Blanchett Injured on Stage

Cate Blanchett was injured during a preview performance of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" on September 2nd in Sydney, Australia.

Blanchett, who plays Blanche DeBois in the production, was struck in the back of the head by a prop radio that slipped out of costar Joel Edgerton's hand.

Edgerton was supposed to throw the radio out the window, but he lost control of it.

Blanchett reportedly fell after being hit, but, like a true professional, continued the scene.

She later left the stage, and the rest of the production was cancelled.

A spokesperson for the Sydney Theatre Company, which is putting on the production, said that Blanchett is "fine."

"She is fine this morning and we anticipate at this stage that the show will go ahead tonight." The show will open on Saturday.

Blanchett is co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company along with her husband, playwright Andrew Upton.

She has also appeared on the STC stage in "The War of the Roses" playing Lady Ann and Richard II.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Actress Scott Thomas has Uphill Climb This Award Season

Gina Wilhelm Actress - Actress Scott Thomas has Uphill Climb This Award Season

According to the Los Angeles Times, women named Kate (or Cate) have it easy when it comes to film awards.

Katharine Hepburn was nominated for 12 Oscars. Kate Winslet was the youngest woman to get five nominations. Cate Blanchett has 5 nominations, too, and won a supporting actress Oscar-for playing Kate Hepburn.

Winslet and Blanchett are both up for awards again this year, as is Kate Beckinsale.

Emma Thompson has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her work in "Last Chance Harvey." Her character is named Kate, too.

Where does this leave Kristin Scott Thomas? This year she's brilliant as a woman released from prison after 15 years in "I've Loved You So Long," a French-language film.

Sadly, though, actress Scott Thomas doesn't play a Kate. Not even a Cate or a Kathryn. Instead, she's a "Juliette."

Ah well, at least she has that nomination from 1995 for "The English Patient."

Who did actress Scott Thomas play then? Oh, right: Katharine Clifton.

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Cate Blanchett's Influences

Gina Wilhelm Actress

Cate Blanchett's life has given her a lot of material from which to draw for her performance in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

The story is told in flashback from her character's hospital room. The character is seen from childhood (played by a different actress) through adulthood and into her 80s (played by Blanchett).

Blanchett took some of her inspiration (and mannerisms) for her character at the end of her life from her own grandmother.

Additionally, her first job as an adolescent was in a senior citizen's home, which provided further development for her character.

Of course, she also gives much credit to the film's makeup team.

As an adult, the character is a dancer. Blanchett studied ballet, though only through childhood. She did almost all her own movement in the movie except for a few shots using a stand-in including a rapid sequence of steps.

Known for frequent performance in period pieces ("Elizabeth," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "The Aviator," "I'm Not There"), she will next be playing the title role in "Richard II" on stage in her native Australia.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" opens December 25th and has received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Gina Wilhelm Actress