Cate Blanchett Defends Creative Doubt While Receiving Japan’s Praemium Imperiale

Cate Blanchett received Japan’s Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo on Wednesday, adding the lifetime achievement award to a career that includes two Oscars. Speaking before the ceremony, she argued that doubt plays an essential role in creativity, allowing artists to question assumptions, explore ideas and connect with others.

At the news conference preceding the presentation, Blanchett warned against “unthinking certainty” in an uncertain world. She described the willingness to question as a force that makes conversation and change possible, a theme she developed further when accepting the honor at the black-tie ceremony.

The Japan Art Association presents the Praemium Imperiale for lifetime achievement in painting, sculpture, architecture, music and theater/film. Previous theater and film honorees include Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, Judi Dench and Catherine Deneuve. Ang Lee received the award in 2024, making him its most recent Hollywood-associated recipient before Blanchett.

Princess Hitachi presented Blanchett’s medal at the Meiji Kinenkan in Tokyo’s Moto-Akasaka district. The award also includes a testimonial letter and 15 million yen, just under $100,000, for each recipient. The other laureates this year were American artist Jenny Holzer, British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, American architect Daniel Libeskind and Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt.

Blanchett began her acceptance remarks by referring to surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, then explored the limits of language and the expressive possibilities of performance. She described acting as capable of becoming overly literal, but also of creating experiences that leave audiences without words. For her, a character’s unspoken thoughts and difficulty expressing meaning offer opportunities for discovery.

She explained that uncertainty about fully communicating remains part of her work. As a woman, she said, that doubt is often mistaken for insufficient confidence, although she regards it as the starting point of her artistic process. She also praised her fellow recipients for the courage and rigor needed to sustain artistic risk-taking throughout a long career.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the news conference in her capacity as the prize’s U.S. international adviser. She belongs to an international advisory network whose committees nominate candidates for consideration, with the Japan Art Association making the final choices. Clinton said the award affirms the essential place of artists and culture in society.

Clinton argued that support for the arts has become more urgent amid threats to democratic values and concerns about artificial intelligence. She called for the risks of the technology to be restrained while protecting human imagination and the ability to connect with others.

Blanchett’s Japan visit also includes the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, which continues through Nov. 4. On Friday, she is scheduled to join Mohammad Rasoulof and Shahrbanoo Sadat for a question-and-answer session after the Japanese premieres of five shorts backed by the Displacement Film Fund. She co-founded and leads the initiative supporting displaced filmmakers. Later that day, she is due to discuss Alpha Gang, the alien comedy in which she stars, with directors David and Nathan Zellner.