Who Is Cate Blanchett's Husband? Meet Andrew Upton

Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton have been married for a little more than 25 years, establishing both a Hollywood empire and a beautiful family during this time period. While Andrew might not be as much of a household name as Cate, he's still incredibly successful in the entertainment industry, having built a name for himself through his playwriting, screenwriting, and directing.

That said, Andrew is a pretty private person, with no social media pages to scroll through and very few of his own media interviews to read. Still, there are some things we've managed to learn about Blanchett and Upton's relationship, even though the couple tends to keep to themselves. For those interested in learning more, here are 9 facts to know about Cate Blanchett's husband, Andrew Upton.

He's from Australia

Andrew, like Cate, is from Australia, which is also where the couple initially met. He grew up, lived, and worked in Sydney for much of his life, and is an alumnus of The King's School, Parramatta, and the University of Sydney.

He Has an Impressive Resume

Andrew can call himself a playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He has adapted numerous famous plays for the Royal National Theatre in London, and has created his own original plays such as Riflemind, which opened at the Sydney Theatre Company in 2007. If that wasn't enough, Upton also once wrote the libretto to an opera and had an acting role in the film Manifesto in 2015. Today, Andrew shows no signs of slowing down and now owns his own film production company.

Andrew and Cate Work Together Often

In 2008, Andrew and Cate worked as joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for a five-year term. They seemed to like working together so much that they decided to do it again, founding their own UK-based production company called Dirty Films. Under their production company, the duo has produced TV shows and movies like The New Boy, A Manual for Cleaning Women, and Apples, as well as the series Disclaimer. Andrew was also an executive producer for Cate's movie Carol.

Though many married couples may shy away from living, working, and parenting with their spouse, these two seem happy to share such a large portion of their lives together. In 2015, Cate told E! News, "It's been a great creative partnership with my husband and also a great love affair. Working together, running a creative company in Australia. It's been fantastic."

In a 2008 interview with the UK's Independent (via People), Andrew also said he loves working with his wife: "It’s great. We’ve always worked together in a way. You have your odd, ‘no, no, no, we have to do this,’ but in the end, you can say: ‘Oh, all right, I’ll fight for that next year, then,'” he explained. “That collaborative approach is a really important part of theatre—it’s compromise that adds, not detracts.”

He's a Dad

Andrew and Cate are parents to four kids. They have three sons named Dashiell, Roman, and Ignatius, and one daughter named Edith. The couple keeps their kids out of the public eye and not much is known about them. As of today, the family lives in Sussex, England, and Cate once told Harper's Bazaar that she enjoys the privacy of the U.K., saying, "They enjoy a sense of anonymity here, which I’m grateful for."

Andrew and Cate Didn't Like Each Other at First

It definitely was not love at first sight for these two. To no surprise, the pair met on set at the Belvoir St Theatre, where Cate had a lead role in the production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull back in 1997. In a 1999 interview with Vanity Fair, Cate recalled their initial meeting, revealing, "He thought I was aloof and I thought he was arrogant. And it just shows how wrong you can be. But once he kissed me, that was that."

In a 2013 interview with Jay Leno (via The Daily Mail), Cate talked about it again, saying, "We just didn't really connect and we were going out with other people, who we're still friends with, and it was always an issue when the four of us went out that Andrew and I had something going on." But it wasn't until a late-night game of poker that things turned romantic.

He Proposed After Three Weeks

The couple may not have liked each other at first, but Andrew quickly realized that he wanted to be in their relationship for the long haul. During a 2015 appearance on The Ellen Show, Cate told Ellen DeGeneres that she knew after just three dates that they were going to be together forever.

"'He turned to me, we were in bed, as you are after three days, and he said, 'Cate.' And I thought, s**t he’s going to ask me to marry him and I’m going to have to say yes.' And then he said, 'no, I'm hungry, do you want to go get something to eat?' But then he asked me after about 21 days."

The proposal itself is a cute and funny story. Cate further shared with Ellen, "I cooked him the worst meal. I somehow decided that to stuff a trout with walnuts and goat’s cheese would be a good idea. He ate it, and then he asked me to marry him, so clearly, he was, I don't know, hallucinating."

He's Not Interested in Plastic Surgery

During a 2008 interview with Vanity Fair (via Access), right at the time when Cate was starring in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, she briefly talked about how she hadn't had any plastic surgery up to that point.

"I haven’t done any [plastic surgery], but who knows,” she said. “Andrew said he’d divorce me if I did anything. When you’ve had children, your body changes; there’s history to it. I like the evolution of that history; I’m fortunate to be with somebody who likes the evolution of that history. I think it’s important to not eradicate it.”

He's Doesn't Give the Most Romantic Gifts

Maybe the secret to a long-lasting marriage is receiving practical gifts? During a 2020 interview with Mirror, Cate joked about the wedding anniversary gifts she's received from her husband: a vacuum cleaner and a mixer.

"It used to be silver and gold but now that list includes coffee makers and irons, and gone is the sense of getting to the gold and diamond anniversary," she said. "Now it’s the microwave anniversary. It’s so less romantic now and timeless.”

He's Very Supportive of Cate and Her Career

It should come as no surprise that Andrew is extremely supportive of his wife's career and success. In a 1999 interview with Vanity Fair, Cate talked about how the two made their relationship work long-distance. At one point, she was shooting on location in London and the North of England, while Andrew was working in Australia. "Andrew's been flexible this year with his work [a screenplay]. He's been able to take it with him. We've been away from home for about eight months. But we've been together."

Director Shekhar Kapur, who was working with Cate at the time, told the magazine that he "admires" Andrew, saying, "I have rarely seen a man that is so supportive of his wife's success. Cate is one of the luckiest girls in the world to have a husband like Andrew. That one person can see her through what are going to be turbulent times for her...You know, success is the devil. You have to be able to keep that devil at bay."

Later, in 2008, Andrew talked to the Independent (via People) about how it was dealing with Cate's level of fame. “I’m never followed but Cate is," he said. "Her public identity is very associated with her work, which I think is good, right, and proper because she’s bloody good at it."