In 1998, Aussie newcomer Cate Blanchett shaved back her hairline to create a commanding forehead (and performance) in the biopic Elizabeth. She nabbed her first Academy Award nomination for playing the Virgin Queen and eventually won the Oscar in 2004 for taking on screen legend Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator.

Although Blanchett has been named one of PEOPLE's Most Beautiful and is applauded for her risk-taking red carpet style, she considers having an "actor's face" the "greatest compliment." The risk-taking actress has morphed into folk singer Bob Dylan, reprised her star-making role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and played a villain in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf. However, the mother of three plans to settle in Sydney to codirect a theatre company with her writer-director husband.