Article from: The Australian



FORTY-EIGHT hours after leaving a black-tie premiere in Los Angeles, Cate Blanchett arrived for a hometown premiere of her new film.

She did so as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button firmed overnight as a major Academy Award contender, dominating the US Broadcast Critics' Choice.

The co-artistic director, with husband Andrew Upton, of the Sydney Theatre Company hosted the fund-raising premiere for the Sydney Theatre Company Foundation, which supports the STC's education and development programs.

Earlier, she had attended the Los Angeles premiere of the David Fincher adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's short story about a man who ages backwards.

Blanchett is already in the midst of another Academy Award campaign, which could net her a second Oscar after surprisingly missing out last year for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.

She is one of the favourites for the best actress award for her portrayal of the glamorous partner of Brad Pitt's Button in the sprawling epic.

But the lead actress category is as strong as any other this year with Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie and Sally Hawkins all likely to figure in the many awards ceremonies ahead of the February 22 Academy Awards.

The most recent kudos, the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice nominations, gave Blanchett another boost, naming her among its best actress nominees, one of eight for the film.

The next step in the campaign is to earn a Golden Globe nomination. They are announced on Thursday in the US.

The Sydney premiere was a long way from Monday's black-tie event in Los Angeles, which was attended by Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone and Sumner Redstone.

Among the guests to brave the wet weather in Sydney last night was model and author Tara Moss, STC actors Essie Davis, Steve Bisley, Justine Clarke, Jeremy Sims and Miranda Otto, star of the French film, I've Loved You So Long, Elsa Zylberstein, Sarah Murdoch, Underbelly star Rodger Corser and fashion designer Collette Dinnigan.

Only a handful of autograph hunters turned out

for the event, although they were rewarded with a glimpse of Blanchett, who took to the red carpet with Upton mere moments before the lights went down.

Shimmering in an opal-like Balenciaga gown, Blanchett played down suggestions her role in the film was already generating talk of a possible Oscar nomination in Hollywood.

"I've actually been on a plane and in rehearsals so that's my focus," she said. "But it's that time of year, I suppose."

The star, who next month will appear in the STC's production of The War of the Roses as part of the Sydney Festival, said rehearsals for the show were going well.

"They're great," she said. "They're really great. It's a challenge because if you did Shakespeare's War of the Roses in its entirety, it'd be 40, 50 hours, and we've truncated it down to eight."