Cate Blanchett took home Best Actress at the 86th annual Academy Awards on Sunday. The actress won for her celebrated performance in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," playing a Manhattan socialite who loses her wealth when her husband is exposed in a Bernie Madoff-esque corruption scandal.
"Sit down, you're too old to be standing," Blanchett said at the start of her acceptance speech, which followed a standing ovation. Some wondered whether Blanchett would thank Allen amid the brouhaha surrounding his child-abuse allegations, and indeed she did.
Blanchett topped Amy Adams ("American Hustle"), Sandra Bullock ("Gravity"), Judi Dench ("Philomena") and Meryl Streep ("August: Osage County"). This is her second Oscar, following her 2005 Best Supporting Actress win for "The Aviator." She has been nominated an additional four times, for "Elizabeth," "Notes on a Scandal," "I'm Not There" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."
Blanchett, 44, was declared the category's frontrunner way back in July, when "Blue Jasmine" first opened. Adams gained some momentum in the wake of the "American Hustle" fervor and her subsequent Golden Globe win in the musical or comedy category, but nearly every major pundit kept Blanchett at the top of his or her predictions in what became one of the most straightforward Best Actress contests in recent years.
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