Last year, there were some awful rumors about Cate Blanchett and her husband of nearly seventeen years, Andrew Upton. Upton and Blanchett met in the 1990s, fell in love immediately and have been together ever since. They have four kids together, three sons and a baby girl, Edith, whom they adopted in 2015. They live together, they raise their children together and they work together consistently on theater projects. They were co-directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for years, and he’s written and directed theater projects for Cate many times over the years. They seemed totally solid, right?
Well, last fall, there were some photos of Upton looking and seeming especially friendly and handsy with a 27-year-old actress, a friend who has worked with him and with Cate. The photos were damning, but they weren’t definitive proof of shenanigans. Still, there seemed to be a few tense months, and Cate was even seen without her wedding ring a few times. So what’s new?
Well, Cate and Andrew are working together again. These photos are from the opening night party for The Present, Upton’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Platonov. Upton adapted the play and he’s directing it. Cate stars. They posed together happily at the Ethel Barrymore theater in New York for their opening night. Cate also made a point of posing with her costar Richard Roxburgh. Cate and Andrew’s body language says to me “we’re fine.” Or possibly “we’re fine… NOW.” As in, they had some issues but they worked their sh-t out. Possibly they worked their sh-t out when Upton got the hell out of Australia and joined Cate in America, where she’s been living and working for months now.
As for The Present, it’s getting rave reviews and Cate’s performance is being singled out, because of course it is. Theater people love her so hard. If she and Andrew ever split, so many people are going to side with her.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Honestly who knows what is the truth in anyone’s marriage. Everything is supposition. Possibilities are they were always fine, weren’t fine but are fine now or aren’t fine but are being supportive to support the show. She keeps her sh*t pretty tight I’d doubt anyone would really know.
agree 100%. it’s kind of a waste of time to speculate on something we know nothing about.
Agreed. I know that this is what gossip is made of, but sometimes it just seems so… rude. And a waste of time.
To be honest, the 27-year-old woman he looked very close in the pics…
*and
Really, such a specific reading into their body language,? I am reading more like they are colleagues, partners raising a family together, long time friends maybe, their bodylangues does not say anything about their sexual life to me. Like as if that is non existend. Not something they share. Which may be true considering all the rumours. Or maybe they did work some shit put and renegotiated the terms of their partnership
Andrew Upton is really the luckiest guy on the planet. To look so ugly and to be able to have such a gorgeous wife. I’m sure he has other qualities but man, he looks so ugh. You NEVER see the opposite: an ugly woman with a gorgeous guy.
Not that she’s ugly by any stretch of the imagination but wasn’t this something Jon Hamm’s partner (or expartner Jennifer) used to complain about? That people throught she wasn’t “pretty enough” to be his girlfriend?
I thought the same thing. Gorgeous and much more successful than him too.
Deborra Lee Furness, the wife of Hugh Jackman, often gets abused by some people saying she’s “too old and ugly” for him. :/
False equivalence. its way different pointing out an ugly man does not deserve a good looking woman.
She wasn’t when they started up I guess, she was the more famous and monied one because she’d done an Aussie soap opera for years.
That’s probably the best one, and man, they get asked pretty much every single damn time they are interviewed.
I wonder if anyone has ever run articles on how Cate must be gay for marrying such an ugly man, ala Jackman and Furness
I see it often irl.
In Susan Sontag’s incredible book “The Volcano Lover,” she says (paraphrased) that a true beauty doesn’t need to pair up with another beauty, because a true beauty has enough beauty for two. And I’ve found that’s quite true, whether the “beauty” in question is a man or a woman.
that does not make any sense. as if you could be attracted to ugly dudes because you are a good looking woman: “he is gross but i am sooo beautiful that im aroused anyway”
i see it could look from the outside like that in some relationships because you rarely have couples like Pitt and Jolie, usually both of them would need to date down. they would still be with good looking people, just not as extreme as they themselves.
Gorgeous? Let’s not go overboard here. She’s average looking — maybe even slightly below average.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. I find her luminous.
Cate is a great actress but come on if she was truly average lookg she would not be as succesful.
She is so elegant and classy, and he is a Hobbit.
Shit yo.
What town do you live in?
I would love to live somewhere that Cate Blanchett was below average. The dudes must be epic level of hot.
I would kill to be so average!
What you might mean is she is not particularly cute. Beautiful, yes. Cute, no.
Oh, I don’t know. He’s not that bad. Then again, I don’t place much store on looks, and some people just don’t photograph well. Once you quickly get past facial features, you find the real person. I can honestly say that I’ve only ever met one woman I’ve considered to be ugly. It’s horrible to say, but true. Yet she has a very nice looking husband who adores her, and they’ve raised three children. Then you’ll get beautiful-looking people (especially women) who can’t seem to find true love. There’s no rhyme or reason, it seems. Perhaps inner beauty reveals itself sooner than we think? Then there’s Richard Roxburgh… His wife doesn’t look as good in still photos – still lovely, though – but in real life and motion, is stunning. He’s not bad, either…
Who knows what goes on behind doors.
Hope they are good. Need positive energy in 2017.
Good for them. Relationships can be hard. When you have children and a long history together, you have to keep things in perspective. Not every indiscretion warrants throwing everything on the scrap heap because someone might have let you down.
If she’s fine with it… More power to them.
realest comment ever…. and thank you I needed to read this 🙂
They seem like the type to have an arrangement.
Whether he’s ugly as stated above is in the eye of the beholder.
But really, could he put his clothing on straight please? She always look stunning and perfectly put together. He couldn’t have done her the courtesy of tucking his shirt in and having ironed pants on order to be her escort? That is so annoying to me.
I’ve seen the pics, best explanation is maybe they were split at the time or they have an understanding. Not judging, I just know. You don’t act like that at a bar with someone and then leave with them 1:1 if it’s just friends.
They didn’t leave together. The girl left in a cab by herself.
If that’s the way their marriage works then this is a non-story. A lot of people have open marriages, however he should be more discreet.
I was blown away by richard roxburgh in his series Rake (first two seasons available on netflix). I caant believe he isnt better known in the US. his acting leaps off the screen. I am dying to go see this because the two of them must be amazing. I even got the firestick and jailbroke it so I could watch the second 2 seasons. it’s a super well written and acted show, for any of you who like foreign series!
Thanks for the rec! I just binge watched Glitch and The Code so I’ve been looking for another Australian show to watch.
I saw ‘The Present’ here in Australia – amazing. Cate was luminous as expected but it was Richard Roxburgh who blew me away. I’ve always liked him but he was phenomenal on stage. So funny and just oozed charisma. I know someone who ushered at The Sydney Theatre Company during the play’s run and said Cate played her character the same way each show (which as stated was magnificent!) however Richard would tweak his character each time keeping the staff highly entertained.
Living apart from my husband would never work for me. I don’t know how people like this manage to sustain a marriage. No wonder so many break up. And what do they do with their kids while they’re living and working on different continents?
As a person above stated, I suspect many Hollywood types have an “arrangement” of sorts with their partner or a straight up open relationship. Many of these people are very, very wealthy (they aren’t middle class people whose partner has to travel a lot for work)…..and yet tend to live apart for long periods of time. I imagine they often have people throwing themselves at them constantly and/or spend long times (sometimes on isolated sets).
If it works for them, it works for them. However, the one person I know who does have an open relationship says discretion is key….That said, who knows? It could have been totally innocent, maybe the woman he was with has a partner, or maybe he cheated but they worked things out. Cate keeps her shit locked down tight.
Cate is so out of his league. Men are idiots.
If Cate is so out of his league and he’s cheating on her and getting away with it, doesn’t that make her the idiot?
This is the way it’s been since the dawn of time… or since patriarchal societies.
Drunk + lonely = stupid with some frequency. It doesn’t have to be the end of the world or your marriage.
It would certainly be the end of mine. Not the world part but definitely the marriage.
Rant – as an adoptee and an adoptive parent, I’m tired of the continued references to a child joining a family by adoption long after the event. Should we talk about how each of the children were conceived/joined the family? The adoption was almost two years ago. Edith is just one of their kids now. Stop.
This adoptive parent completely agrees with you SinkorSwim. It’s exhausting that we members of the adoption triad continually have to make this point to people!
YUP. I’m not adopted but completely set on adoption after this baby I’m carrying is born. Two biological babies and my body is done but our family will continue to grow.
But I don’t need to hear how a child arrived into their family, whether biologically or abopted. I certainly don’t plan on making that distinction for others when I finally have my family of three or four.
The NTY theatre critic just ripped the play into pieces, saving just tepid praise to Blanchett and Roxburgh’s performances. Upton has never excelled as a playwright, not even discreet: juts plain mediocre. His adaptations are more than often complete messes, as a director he’s mediocre as well. There’s a reason why all his achievements are strictly linked to Cate’s presence in the project: without her (and her starpower) he would be just another struggling theatre guy maybe bartending to pay the bills. And no, I’m not a Cate stan, I find her as talented as annoying and snobbish.
Even if he had an affair with a younger girl, why should it bother her? She loves Woody Allen and Roman Polanski, so apparently talent trumps any lack of morals. So her husband should be fine.
Sometimes ppl with low self esteem bat below their average to boost their ego. Not that Cate appears to have low self esteem. I get the vibe from these pics that she wears the pants and he falls into line. He was probably tired of being a doormat and had a little side dose of ego with this 27 yr old side Cate is away for such long periods. I think Cate is furious but putting on a united front for her career/image/family.