The childhood trauma that haunts Oscar golden girl Cate Blanchett: Hollywood star on losing father at 10, at work aged 14 - and why her son calls himself 'The Experiment' The childhood trauma that haunts Oscar golden girl Cate Blanchett She is the red-hot favourite to win an Oscar for her moving portrayal of a Manhattan socialite whose riches have turned to rags. Yet Cate Blanchett’s stunning performance in Blue Jasmine owes far more to her real life than the Hollywood star has previously admitted. The actress tributes her success to her family's money struggles when she was a child and the tragic death of her father. Now a mother of three boys – Dashiell, 12, Roman, nine, and five-year-old Ignatius – with her playwright husband Andrew Upton, Ms Blanchett said Dashiell calls himself The Experiment because of the parenting mistakes the couple made when he was growing up. The actress will star in The Monuments Man alongside Matt Damon (pictured), released next month