Cate Blanchett Defeats Natalie Portman | Best Supporting Actress Oscar 2005 

Fun fact for cate’s portrayal of Kate Hepburn she didn’t watch any of Katharine’s movies/acting work to emulate her voice and mannerisms, she instead watched her TV interviews and home made videos of her to actually embody her true personality outside of her Hollywood persona and this is especially knowing Katharine was a very private person this was a major factor to why she was great in the role

You were pretty spot on here. Blanchett won here because she was clearly robbed in 1999, she was playing one of the Academy's favorites in Katherine Hepburn, and they probably thought they could award Natalie Portman later on, which they did six years later.

I love this channel. Both this and Be Kind Rewind make me feel less weird about being so obsessed with the Oscars LOL.

I am the biggest Cate Blanchett fan and she for me had it down for one simple reason, the academy could award Katherine Hepburn, without awarding Katherine Hepburn. Cate gave an incredible performance that captured the spirit of KH and that was always going to be catnip to voters. I imagine the actress playing Streep in the future, if she does it well, to be similarly awarded.

Everything Cate Blanchett does is sublime 😌

Because of this video, I've been obsessing with that clip of Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn. I love how she delivers the line, "Can't you eat ice cream from a bowl like everyone else?" and how she looks great in green! Also, I think it's funny that Katherine Hepburn the character finds eating ice cream out of a Chinese carton strange when the real one couldn't sit in a chair properly lol.

No one "steals" an Oscar from another person. If you get more votes, you win.

Thank you for another great video essay about these wonderful actresses. I remember staying up to watch the Oscars that year and wanting Cate Blanchett to finally get the Oscar. And I thought Katherine Hepburn was her goodluck charm.

Perfect video! I wrestle so often between Cate and Virginia. But in the end I was so magnetically drawn to Blanchett’s Hepburn. Natalie was excellent too. In my own personal list of nominees all great except, I would have substituted Laura Linney (a phenomenal actress btw) with Sharon Warren, who played Jamie Foxx’s mother in Ray. Great year

God I love these videos! Please keep them coming. Will you ever do a yearly best picture awards race retrospective? Like what people thought would win, festivals, precursors and then the Oscars? Would be awesome to see which films has front runner status only to lose at the end.

I never knew how important it was for Oscar nominees in the acting categories to win other major awards leading up to the Oscars and for their films they're nominated for to get a lot of nominations, until I started watching your vidoes, Brian. I never really considered those two factors.

Im still not over Cate losing the Oscar for Carol! In my opinion her greatest performance ever!!!

Unaware with the Oscars race and all that time. I always thought no one could stand a chance for Blanchett winning an Oscar that year.

Personally, I would've voted for Virginia Madsen that year, but Cate and Natalie were great too. Between those 2, I think I'd give my vote to Cate.

No shocker here. Cate had a lot of goodwill when she came within striking distance in 1999 of defeating Paltrow. Plus I remember reading at the time that was, in a way, like giving Hepburn a fifth Oscar. I think Academy members knew they were voting for the future of the industry in picking Blanchett. I love Closer though and own it. I love the play structure of it. I prefer Portman in this than her win for Black Swan.

2 of the the greatest working actresses

I have re-watched Closer, Sideways, Million Dollar Baby, and The Aviator so many times. I have probably re-watched Closer every two years since it came out. I love how real those four characters are and I liked that it could have been a stage production. Sideways is brilliantly funny while also breaking my heart. Million Dollar Baby devastates me all over again every time I watch it. Hilary was phenomenal and when Morgan Freeman punches out the jerk at the gym I cheer!

could you do Mickey Rourke vs Sean Penn, McConaughey vs DiCaprio, or Smith vs Cumberbatch? I love the content keep it coming !!❤️

Love this!! Also, can we talk about the Oscars this year? I can’t stop thinking about Austin Butler in Elvis - do we think he has a shot at the best actor award? 🙌🏻

Like you, the supporting categories are some of my favorites, especially the times when you really don't know who will win. I mentioned this in on of BKR's videos but I do find it frustrating that the it's the supporting categories that contain the most wins for BIPOC. I do wonder if some BIPOC actors might even request placement in the supporting categories to increase their chances of winning. It shouldn't have to be that way but things won't change in media unless there is greater and purposeful representation. I'd love to hear your take on Marisa Tomei's surprising win. I think if it was an error as rumor would have us believe, then it would have been corrected onstage like with Moonlight's win.

Interesting also, Katharine never won a Golden Globe, despite winning 4 Oscars. It'd be a bit of a shock if the HFPA had rewarded Cate while never recognizing Hepburn's work.

Ugh, Cate Blanchett is just an exquisite actor. We are lucky to be alive to witness her talent. I had forgotten about The Aviator, and having seen her in Tár two years ago, is a nice reminder of her range.

after discovering the oscar expert (and brother bro), i’ve discovered my (frankly unhealthy) obsession with academy awards discussions, i will definitely be binging channels like this as a result

I am so glad that someone else agrees with me that Virginia Madsen’s soliloquy on wine and life in “Sideways” is one of the finest scenes ever captured in films. For me, that was enough to award her the Oscar!

10:28 The cameraman ruined it by cutting away from Meryl, evidently thinking he was looking at Natalie, instead of Emmy Rossum. Reminds me of an Oscars closeup of Susan Sarandon when the cameraman was supposed to zoom in on Best Supporting Actress nominee Ronee Blakley. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sVQlWL31WCo.html

I call Cate Blanchett's Oscar win for Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator Katharine's fifth Oscar. No dig on Cate, Cate takes what we know of a director's work and elevates it to transcendence. Cate also is faithful to the stage as well. I think Kate Hepburn would be very proud of Cate Blanchett, and it is a shame Kate died before the two could meet.

Been binging your videos that are always informative and fun. Maybe I’m bias as it seems that we are kindered spirits in terms of our likes and preferences but I’m waiting for THAT ONE VIDEO on the ultimate Sandy-B. Actually make that two videos as I’m curious to also see your take on the Blue Jasmine and Gravity Best Actresss showdown which I feel is very much deserving a video of its own. ❤

I love your stuff, So happy that I've just stumbled across it and have a whole back catalogue to enjoy.

10:28 Meryl preparing for her role as Miranda two years later.

you should do a video on alan arkin vs. eddie murphy for supporting actor in 2007. apparently murphy deserved the oscar, and even almost achieved a clean sweep, but arkin was awarded the bafta, and his oscar was one of those textbook “lifetime achievement awards”

Cate Blanchett ❤❤

My pick that year wasn't Cate Blanchett or Natalie Portman, it was Virginia Madsen, because Sideways was my favorite film of the year it was released and she brought heart and soul to the character and she had been working steadily for years (and still has) in film and television. I am getting a little fatigued about actors winning Oscars for portraying real people and by the way, Garden State has no "the" in the beginning of that film's title.

Can you do Marisa Tomei’s win?

i don't know if you take requests, but i'd love to see why Michael Caine beat Jude Law in the 2000 best supporting actor! i feel like this was such an amazingly prosperous year for supporting actors.

I've never understood the Sideways hype. I was so excited cause I love the cast, specially Sandra Oh, and I was underwhelmed at the time. Is it worth rewatching? Has it aged well or was it a product of the 2000s?

Also, Regina King and Sharon Warren were both snubbed for Ray.

No but Cate is one of my inspirations 😭😭😭i luv this performance

Cate is definitely one of the greayest. But this year Natalie deserved it so bad. If it were on me Cate would've swept "Elizabeth", "I'm Not There" and "Blues Jasmine". I really, REALLY hope she gets her 3rd this year which I truely, TRUELY believe should be her 4th.

if Natalie would have win that year, the academy would have gone insane, just as they did when they give it to Marisa tomei or gwyneth, they knew they should give it to cate for elizabeth's theft

I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned that Cate Blanchett was originally cast for the Julia Roberts role in Closer but dropped out. Cate beat out her would-be costar.

Done one for Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn in 2008 already?

1:25 - I don't think this tracks with the reality of the race at that time. At least for Best Picture, most Vegas oddsmakers marked "The Aviator" with slightly superior odds of winning Best Picture. It was a serious contest in the top two categories. Particularly given that "The Aviator" had the PGA award and the BAFTA for best movie. This was one of the few years where a non-DGA winning movie had a strong chance of taking Picture and Director. "The Aviator" had the most nominations and it would have been a traditional choice as Best Picture - large-scale historical epic spanning multiple decades and with money all over the screen. Combine this with the Overdue Aura surrounding Scorsese, and the widespread reaction of surprise that Polanski upset the sentimental favorite 2 years earlier, it could have gone either way. Natalie Portman's campaign had nothing for fuel other than the Golden Globe and the San Diego critics award. The main competitor was Virginia Madsen, who had more precursors than Blanchett...just fewer of consequence. Madsen also appeared in the SAG Best Ensemble Cast winner, which ain't hay. But if you win the SAG award for your category, you happen to be British or Australian, you're in a Best Picture nominee, you put on an accent, and you happen to have played a real historical figure, you don't lose the Oscar without many problematic externalities dragging you down. Cate Blanchett is not and was not Russell Crowe. Not a suspenseful race.

Closer is so much more entertaining than The Aviator. Very quotable. Natalie Portman killed in that movie.

Closer is my favorite movie and I would’ve loved to see Natalie win for her incredible work in that film. However, I don’t think cate didn’t deserve the win.

Oh Brian - you and I could have the BEST movie debate regarding The Truman Show! Haha! How fun would that video be!

Where is the LEONARDO DICAPRIO elusive Oscar movie?!!!!

I wanted to see Regina King nominated that year in this category for “Ray,” but the field was crowded. Plus she didn’t get any precursor love, so she’d have to wait 14 years to get her first nomination and win for “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

Do you think Cate will win this year with Tar?

I need nicole vs renee as nicole won GG and Bafta and renee won GG and SAG

Kate Blanchett is always the right choice.

That year was between Cate Blanchett and Virginia Madsen. Even Sophie Okenodo had a better chance than Natalie Portman. The Golden Globes are irrelevant.

Natalie Portman is the best actress of all time ♥️♥️

The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow won the oscar over Cate Blanchett is one of the biggest travesties in Oscar's history imho.

Natalie Portman

I actually think Virginia Madsen had the best shot at beating Blanchett that year since she was the critical darling of the group, won BFCA, and her film was nominated for Best Picture. I remember a lot of pundits predicting her to win that year.

We are LUCKY to have them in our lives??????? Dude, pls chill...

I personally did not like Blanchett in Aviator. Her worst performance for me.

The Oscar should have gone to Virginia Madsen in sideways

Cate & Natalie are amazing actresses, but the right person won here. But I do feel that some votes probably went Cate's way after the debacle of Shakespeare in Love & Gwyneth winning over Cate's Elizabeth in both the actress & best film categories.

For once, you’re wrong.

Dude, not everyone and everything can be your favourite… you over use it in all your videos. It holds no value or weight. Be aware of it and stop saying ‘favourite’ like you’re taking credit or ownership.

I freaking HATE Million Dollar Baby. Soppy, pathetic, nihilistic crap. Despicable film and an insult to brave and fierce quadriplegics everywhere.

I love Natalie’s performance, but Cate is sublime in The Aviator! Her work in that movie is mindblowing and it’s my favorite supporting win ever! Loved the video Brian and, I know its very recent, but I would love to hear your opinions on last years Oscars and why Caitríona Balfe didnt get a nom for SP for Belfast (I was heartbroken, still not over it🥲)

Natalie gives one of my favorite performances in one of my favorite films, but Cate was seriously unbeatable

Sophie Okonedo is a brilliant, criminally underrated actress who If given the right role, much like a lot of POC actresses (Nicole Beharie, Lorraine Toussaint, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Adrianna Barazza and on and on and on) could have many more nominations.

Ms Blanchett even outshined decaprio in the aviator. Without a doubt greatest actress of all time

The problem is that everything is so subjective and unfortunately only one person to win. I remember watching closer and The aviator that year. I had not seen anything of Natalie's besides the Star wars films I'm sorry to say prior to her performance in closer and I remember being absolutely flattened buy her performance and realizing I needed to look up everything about her. On the other hand that was much more familiar with how phenomenal Cate was. Harvey Weinstein essentially stole her Oscar from Elizabeth. And when I saw her in The Aviator as Katherine Hepburn, who by that time I had already read three biographies and watched about 30 of her films, I was in park heaven with blanchett's performance. And as was indicated Virginia's performance wow. An amazing year for the females in the Oscar race. That doesn't always happen.

I’m glad Natalie won for Black Swan, but she was robbed for Jackie. That was an extraordinary performance.

I'm happy that Natalie Portman got the oscar for Black Swan. She was so good in that movie.

Cate Blanchett was overdue, and while Natalie Portman's performance was nice, she was going against a string of forgettable movies as well that didn't live up to the promise she showed in her breakthrough as a child. Her nomination was more of "Okay, so we realize that you're actually a good actress and not just a child actress who lost their chops as they got older. Here's your reward with a nomination that establishes you as legitimate adult actress." She had a pretty similar narrative to Hailee Steinfield, who also struggled to find something that matched the critical praise of her childhood breakout role until she got Edge of 17. Of course Hailee didn't get another Oscar nom but she did get a Golden Globe nom and a Bafta nom.

The 2006 retrospective surely has to be about the race between Alan Arkin and Eddie Murphy. Either that or The Departed Vs Little Miss Sunshine for Best Picture. Those two races were divine for that year.

How lucky are we to have Portman and Blanchett in our lives...? VERY SO. Love this video!

Honestly, The Aviator was just a much bigger movie than Closer. Portman should have won Best Actress for Jackie in 2017

Personally, I don't think Natalie was second in this race. I think if anyone had a chance to beat Cate it was Virginia. The Golden Globes, which were won by "Closer," were considered 'bribery'. Here's an excerpt from an article from early 2005. - "The Hollywood Foreign Press is notorious for being easily wined and dined, so it’s somewhat easy to chalk up Clive Owen and Natalie Portman’s Golden Globe victories to director Mike Nichols giving hummers to the entire voting committee."

Can we talk about cate blanchett's gown 😍

Frankly, I would've picked Virginia Madsen but the Academy is going to Academy and pick the most flashy performance over the more subtle and nuanced work.

Padme Amidala and Satine Kryze

Morgan Freeman was way too overdue not to be rewarded. And guys, it's Katharine, not Katherine, Hepburn.

Natalie’s performance in Closer is sublime, let’s be real she lost because her performance was too subtle and the Academy loves to award “Acting”, everything Natalie did in that movie is a master class in acting with even the smallest of facial expressions, to this day it’s one of my favorite performances ever, she carried this entire film

I wish one of the women from Ray had gotten some love that year. especially Regina king, kerry washington or Sharon warren

Virginia Madsen was very natural in "Sideways". She was robbed, I think.

Kinda fun that Jude Law starred in both Closer & The Aviator.

The funny thing is that Cate Blanchett had to drop out of Closer due to pregnancy. Julia Roberts got the part in the end. So my thinking is that, Blanchett may had been up for a double nom that year as well

Cate was great but for me Natalie was the best. Closer is one of my favourite drama, so many great quotes, one liners delivered by 4 extraordinary actors.

Excellent as usual. 👏🏽 I’d love to see one of these on Mira Sorvino winning in this category for “Mighty Aphrodite” over the likes of Joan Allen for “Nixon.”

PAHLEEEEEZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEE do a video on the 2017 Best Actress Oscar Race!!!!!!!!!

I have never watched The aviator again. I've watched Closer many times since its release. I think you know who my favorite was (except in that final confrontation in bed with Jude Law - I've always hated those dialogues, those you chose by the way haha)

As a fellow Oscar junkie, great job! Re if the Golden Globes would predict the winner: I mean, let's be real, and I don't mean this against any of the winners- but sometimes a Golden Globe award comes down to which movie team gives the voters the biggest gift baskets, lol. As for Blanchett, at the time she was already seen as one of the great actresses, and as a bonus The Academy likes it when actors play other Hollywood people (whether real or fictional). Also, while The Closer was one of the darlings of that awards season, it was mainly because of it's "pedigree", as they say. Otherwise it hadn't gotten a lot of attention. So, iirc Natalie's nomination was seen as a win itself. In contrast to The Closer, The Aviator was a hit and also it got a LOT of attention both because of DiCaprio and because Scorsese hadn't won yet; everyone wondered if this could be his year. I remember that the ceremony was expected to be a duel between this film and Million Dollar Baby.

Your video is great!!

Enjoy your videos Brian! Are there any set rules or criteria by the Academy as to whether a performance is classified as lead or supporting? At times it seems arbitrary to me.

I didn't like either of them. Cate Blanchett played Katherine Hepburn as an SNL caricature. Her performances are usually full of empathy and psychological insight, but she really fell flat here. In Closer, I thought Natalie Portman lacked vulnerability. I saw Anna Friel do it on Broadway, and she just broke my heart. Natalie couldn't hold a candle to that. To be fair, part of that is just the way she was directed. It seems like Mike Nichols wanted Alice to be more arch and withholding. I suppose Natalie Portman did a good job in what she was told to do, but there was so much more in that role which went unexplored. The true winner should have been Virginia Madsen!!!!!

Virginia Madsen was absolutely the runner up here. Trust me on this one. I remember the race very well. Natalie was in 3rd.

Closer was amazing on every level.

let’s not act like cate deserved the 1999 trophy lol just say you don’t watch international films

06:48 'struggle against the Tutsi militia" is a weird way to say genocide.

I followed you on twitter and I’m loooving you channel 🤩 now I know what I’ll watch omw to work ✨

Blanchett keeps bringing it. She was ridiculous in tar.

ANOTHER outstanding video Brian - you are hitting these out of the park mate. xxx

Good job on the editing

Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett both starred in the Thor movies.