Hollywood star Cate Blanchett to teach at Oxford

Acclaimed Hollywood actress and producer Cate Blanchett will teach contemporary theater at the University of Oxford for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The university announced that the two-time Oscar winner has been named the next Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre, based at St Catherine’s College.

During her tenure, Blanchett will contribute to a program of conversations, lectures, and academic activities, continuing the professorship’s longstanding role in connecting contemporary artistic practice with public life.

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett at the 81st Venice Film Festival in August 2024. Photo by AFP

Blanchett described the appointment as an "electrifying opportunity" to engage with the next generation of thinkers and creative practitioners.

"Art transcends the limits of imagination, asks questions and challenges the way we see the world," Blanchett said, as cited in the university's statement. "My years of creative practice have granted me the opportunity of sharpening feelings into ideas and offered pathways to insight."

She added that she looks forward to being in direct, robust dialogue with students and is eager to begin this "creative rumpus."

The visiting professorship was established in 1990 through a gift from renowned theater producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh. For more than three decades, it has brought internationally significant figures from film and performance into the university community.

Blanchett joins a prestigious list of previous holders, including Stephen Sondheim, Sir Ian McKellen, Arthur Miller, Sir Tom Stoppard, Dame Meera Syal, and Dame Diana Rigg.

Sir Cameron Mackintosh expressed his excitement over the appointment, noting that Blanchett's incredible career across stage, screen, and television will serve as a major inspiration to Oxford’s students.

Jude Kelly CBE, Master of St Catherine’s College, praised the actress as "one of the most important and influential artistic voices working today."

Kelly highlighted Blanchett's extraordinary breadth of work and her longstanding commitment to cultural dialogue and public engagement.

Born in Australia, the 57-year-old star has built one of the most accomplished acting careers of her generation. She rose to international prominence playing Queen Elizabeth I in the 1998 film "Elizabeth".

She has since won two Academy Awards—Best Supporting Actress for "The Aviator" (2004) and Best Actress for "Blue Jasmine" (2013). She has also earned four Golden Globes, four BAFTAs, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, ranking among the highest-paid actresses in the world in recent years.

Her extensive screen credits include "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "Carol", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Notes on a Scandal", "Ocean's 8", and "Tár".

Beyond her success on screen, Blanchett has enjoyed a distinguished stage career in London’s West End and on Broadway. She also served as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company from 2008 to 2013, cementing her reputation as one of the world's leading performers.

St Catherine’s College is one of Oxford University’s constituent colleges. Founded in 1962 from the earlier St Catherine’s Society, it was originally established to help academically talented students with limited financial means study at Oxford.

Currently headed by Jude Kelly, it has grown into one of the largest colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, hosting nearly 850 undergraduate and postgraduate students.